


Anchor to your soul and follow

by GentianBalboa



Series: Across the Sea [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Female Monkey D. Luffy, No Beta, No relationships yet, i will add tw at start of chapter if anything bad happens in it, luffy can hear the voice of all things, makino is prepared to fight god to keep her kids safe, no devil fruit luffy, no form of logic applies to luffy, selective mute Luffy, strong haki luffy, we will see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2019-09-14 16:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 37,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16916250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GentianBalboa/pseuds/GentianBalboa
Summary: -me forward into a new era.She is a storm disguised as a person. She shall sweep across the land changing all in her path. The world would either move with her or be swept away.





	1. Tell me of the sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more of a prologue. Things start to pick up in the next one.

Makino had loved Luffy from the very first moment she held her. She did not mind when her mother asked her to watch the newborn infant. She did not mind when her mother was late picking her up or would just leave the babe with her for days. It was a joy to have Luffy around. It was obvious to anyone who took a moment to look that Luffy's mother was suffering from postpartum depression. Makino did not understand why she refused to see a doctor and get help, but she wished that she would.

At some point, her mother stopped showing up altogether. The mayor told her that the woman was fine and just needed some time - Makino knew nearly nothing about medicine and even she knew that was not true. She suspected something else was bothering the woman. She had no clue what it could be. She figured it must be something rather large if it caused her to essentially abandon Luffy - He offered to take Luffy off her hands for a bit. Makino had laughed and told him she was alright and didn't mind watching Luffy. He looked at her strangely told her that if she ever needed help he was here.

Out of the blue, after three years the woman showed up asking for Luffy. She had a large smile on her face and seemed to be doing much better. Makino did not want to give ~~her daughter~~ Luffy to the woman, but she had no right to refuse. Having Luffy taken from her arms was one of her most painful experiences. It had felt as though her heart was being ripped from her chest along with Luffy from her arms.

Makino did not see Luffy again.

That did not mean she didn't try. She would go to the house furthest from the village to bring food and toys every chance she got. She was never allowed through the front door. The woman would crack the door, using her body to shield sight into the house. She would smile tightly and thank Makino for being so kind, just before slamming the door in her face. Makino knew something was wrong, she just didn't know what.

She had tried to talk to Garp about her concerns, however, he would laugh and thank her for worrying. He would smile and tell her that Luffy was a sickly child, which kept her indoors. She couldn't tell if he was the most oblivious man on the planet or just willfully ignorant. She had taken care of Luffy for three years she ~~was her child~~ would know if Luffy had been sickly.

She wishes that she could say she was surprised when after a little over a year ~~her daughter~~ Luffy had walked into her bar. Wearing only a t-shirt that was far too large for her and hung off her more like a dress. Her hair looking as though the last time it was brushed was when Makino had done it. Luffy had walked over to her with slow careful movements and hesitantly tugged on her skirt. She had lifted up a small arm and point toward the door. Makino had bent down and picked her up (when had she gotten so light?) and carried her to the house furthest from the village.

She wishes she could say she was surprised when she was greeted with the sight of the woman hanging from the rafters. ~~She hates the part of her that felt relief.~~ She just wishes that Luffy never had to have seen it.

Luffy lived with her again and she could not have been happier. She was putting weight back and wolfed down everything placed in front of her. Makino would gently tye her hair into a loose braid every morning and made sure all the bruises she had littering her small body, were healing properly.

Garp had offered to take Luffy to stay with a friend so she would not have to be bothered. Makino assured him that it was no bother and that she enjoyed having Luffy around. He had tried to dissuade her, saying that a young woman such as herself should not be forced to take care of a child that was not even hers. He had stepped forward to take Luffy from her arms ~~not again never again~~. She twisted her body so that Luffy was further from him.

_Nonsense_ , she had hissed with far more fire then she knew she had. Enough to make Garp pause in his steps and stare at her.

Alright, he caved after a moment. Throwing up his hands in a clear sign of defeat.

She was not going to let anything take Luffy from her again. While Makino may not have birthed her, Luffy was her child in all the ways that mattered.

* * *

Things had not gone back to how they were before. Makino hadn't been expecting them to, but the stark contrast was disconcerting.

Luffy had always been a noisy baby. Whether she was laughing, crying or just babbling nonsense, she was always making some form of noise. But now she was so quiet. She would not speak nor cry when she fell down. She would walk on her toes as though the sound her footsteps made where louder than thunder.

The worst was when she broke something. Luffy washed the dishes with her after meals. Makino had tried to tell her that she didn't need to and that she should relax. But watching her sit and fidget, her eyes wide and looking as though she was on the verge of a panic attack was a mournful sight that Makino could not bare.

So she let her help. Luffy was young and her hands so small that sometimes she would drop the glass Makino handed her to dry. The way Luffy would freeze and stare at her in horror filled Makino with rage. Makino was no fool. She knew what this meant.

Makino would push her anger down. Because that is not what Luffy needed at the moment. She would bend down and gently ask if Luffy was ok. Luffy would stare at her with bewilderment and nod her head. Makino would smile and say that was good. Luffy's eyes would flicker to the broken glass back to Makino. Makino would pick her up and set her on the counter while she cleaned up.

Makino would tell her that she was not upset about the glass. She would speak as gently as possible and tell her that as long as she was alright that was all that mattered. That she could get more glasses, but Luffy was irreplaceable.

Luffy would stare at her with nothing short then awe. Over time Luffy had begun to stop panicking when she dropped a glass and instead check herself for injuries before giving Makino a thumbs up. Makino was so proud of her.

While Luffy was able to overcome the sound of glass breaking if she dropped it, the same could not be said if it was in a violent manner.

There were some rowdy customers in the bar. Luffy was behind the counter trying her best to help Makino when one of the more drunk patrons threw a glass. Luffy had frozen in her movements and dropped to the floor. placing her head into her knees and covering her ears with her hands.

Makino bent down and rubbed her back only to find her shaking. She maneuvered to see Luffy's face in an attempt to cheer her up, only to find her eyes closed tightly and fat tears running down her cheeks.  
Makino took her upstairs to the house attached to the bar and closed the bar early. She held Luffy while she silently cried and dug her fingers into her ears. Worried that she would hurt herself, Makino carefully slipped her hand under Luffy's. Only to be shocked when she found it wet. Her ears were bleeding.

Makino moved quickly, sweeping Luffy into her arms and running to the town doctor. She had learned a new kind of fear that day. The doctor had no explanation for what the cause could have been. He told her she was lucky. There was minimal damage and with treatment, it should not permanently affect her hearing. However, if it happened again, she would never regain her hearing.

Makino did not know what happened, but she swore it would never happen again.

* * *

 

Three years had passed like a breeze. Things had started to return to some semblance of normalcy. There had not been another _incident_ and Luffy was learning how to depend on Makino for things. Makino could not be happier about that. Her little girl was seven now doing so much better. What more could a mother ask for? She had to admit she was a little worried over the fact that Luffy hadn't managed to make any friends her own age yet or any really. She still had not spoken a word and would often stop in the middle of a task and turn her head, and stare off into space. With the way Luffy would look out into the distance, Makino would swear it was as though she was listening to someone speak. It often caused her to be perceived as an airhead, while the other children tended to avoid her because of it. It made Makino sad that is some sense her daughter was still alone, but it did not impact Luffy's smile so she did not let it bother her to greatly.

Her daughter rarely interacted with anyone other than herself. So you can imagine her surprise when one afternoon Luffy walked into the bar holding the hand of a red-haired man. Bouncing with every step she took. Makino could tell in a glance that this man was pirate - He was obviously no a marine and seldom did merchants stop at their port. And none ever dressed like these men - She raised an eyebrow at Luffy, while Luffy only smiled brightly in response.

Makino did not trust them, but she was willing to let them have a drink since they managed to get Luffy to like them. However, she would be watching them and if they did anything to harm her daughter she would throw them out. She told the man as such and he laughed and thanked her for letting them stay while promising they meant no harm and were only looking for a place to drink.

His crew filed in after him, taking up seats around the bar while he moved to the counter. Luffy following after him, staring up at him with such elation. He sat down on one of the stools and waited for Luffy to climb up next to him. She struggled slightly - the stool still far too tall for her - he subtly helped her allowing her to have to achievement to herself. Luffy gave him a thumbs up when she was seated and her return the gesture with a bright smile. He was quickly gaining points in his favor, Makino had thought while placing a large thing of rum in front of the man. The crew merrily ordered a variety of alcohol and began chatting. The bar was lively. Makino kept a watchful eye to see if these men were going to get rowdy.

Luffy carefully stood up on her stool and grabbed hold of the man's face forcing him to look at him. Causing many of the men around the bar who saw the gesture to laugh. She stared at him for a single moment and open her mouth and spoke.

" ** _Tell me of the sea_.**"


	2. Curve ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shanks was not prepared to deal with this today.

Shanks loved the sea. Every time he thinks that he has seen all that she has, she finds something new to throw at him. A curveball out of nowhere, that not even the strongest Haki masters would sense coming toward them. It was rarely a solid baseball that knocked his teeth out, more often is a stuffed toy filled with adventure and excitement.

So when a storm far too large for the Blue seas forced them to change course, he knew something interest was ahead of them.

The small village he could see in the distance appeared unassuming, but he was not about to let his guard down based on appearances. The sea brought them here and that meant something. He had sailed far too long to not believe that she had her own will. 

He was not surprised by the child waiting at the dock. It was a common sight in small villages. Children would often run to see what the abnormality invading their everyday life was, not yet having the experience of their elders that made them wary of pirates. He knew his crew would not harm the village, but not all pirates were like them. Blanket trust is a horrible thing. The Marines proved as such constantly.

The kid was a short girl, her hair styled in a loose braid. She wore a t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. If her hair wasn't so long he would have thought the kid a boy. - He might be wrong though. With kids, it was always hard to tell - Since they had gotten close to the dock her eyes had not left the jolly roger. Recognition brewing in her gaze. He hoped that no one in the blues would recognize them on sight, but they were notorious enough that it was not uncommon.

"Hey kid, do you know of any bars around here?" He enthusiastically questioned as he approached her. He did not want to scare her and have her running through the village crying. He wanted to see why the sea brought them here and the thought of a good drink never failed to add some cheer to his voice. She snapped her eyes to him and he felt the air leave his lungs. He felt like he was being crushed, it was intense and overwhelming. It was like having his body ripped apart until only the very core of his being remained. As quickly as it started it was gone. He leaned forward and coughed as air returned to him.

"Shanks?" He could hear Benn asked from behind him. "Devil fruit?" He asked his voice low as he approached. Taking a defensive stance, ready to jump between the child and his Captain. One could never be to careful when it came to Devil Fruits.

Shanks hoped that was not the case. This kid was too young to lose the sea.

"What the fuck," He forced out between hacks. That was new. He could feel his crew's wariness growing behind him as they tried to gauge the situation."Seriously kid, the hell?"

She smiled and ran up to him latching herself onto his arm. She opened her mouth as though to speak, but quickly snapped it closed. She lifted her hand and pointed inland. He raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled and pointed again. Her eyes blazing with some familiar force. He knew, somewhere in him he knew what she had done, he just couldn't place it. It felt so familiar and yet so foreign. She pointed again willing him to understand and on some level he did.

"Bar?" He asked tilting his head, speaking aloud the word that suddenly echoed in his head. She began to vigorously nod and point toward the town. He could feel the crews wary gazes. Whatever she did - while they may not have been the brunt of it - they had felt it. He was not sure what it was that this kid did, but the sea did bring them here. "Sure, might as well." He said taking hold of her hand.

"Any idea what just happened?" He heard Yassop ask.

"No clue. But at the very least, it will be interesting." He laughed as she pulled him forward. He really hoped that this would not be a baseball.

* * *

The bar looked like what one would expect from one in a such a small village. Nothing over the top and was doubling as a restaurant that the townsfolk no doubt frequented. The woman behind the bar was beautiful. She barely glanced at them when they entered, her gaze zeroing in on the girl tightly gripping his hand. She raised an eyebrow at the kid and was returned with an ear to ear smile.

The barmaid sighed in defeat and the kid started to try and pull him forward again. "I know you are pirates, it is rather obvious. Normally I would be warier. However, since Lu seems to have taken a liking to you, I will allow you to stay." Her gaze hardened with fire. He wondered if this woman was a retired marine. "If you hurt my daughter I will throw you out."

He could hear the threat that she did not speak. He guessed she was trying not to say anything that would not be appropriate in front of her kid. "I promise we are not here to do any harm. We are just looking for a place with good booze." He laughed a bit with his words, trying to ease some of the tension.

"Then you may stay. What type of drinks do you all want?" Her gaze lost its sharp edge and she spoke more cheerily.

"Rum!" A chorus sounded behind him. He allowed himself to be pulled forward and led to the counter. His crew took places around the bar, a few taking vantage points, so they could see if the kid used whatever devil fruit she had again. He knew that the kid was not a threat, but he would not put it past the marines to use a child. With a woman at the bar who had the glare of an admiral, the thought did not seem far-fetched.

He took a seat on one of the stools. He watched the kid struggle from a moment before he turned and stuck out his leg, so she could use it for leverage. She maneuvered herself up and plopped onto the seat. She looked herself over and gave him a thumbs up. He returned the gesture. He had to admit the kid was cute. If this was a trap he was going to tear everyone who had a hand in this apart.

His crew quickly fell into festivities, the previous tension was quickly forgotten with the appearance of booze. The barmaid placed a rather large thing of rum in front of him. It was larger than normal - he was not complaining - he figured he must have done something that improved her opinion of him. Before he could take a drink he felt small hands placed upon his cheeks, squishing them together and turning his head toward the kid.

He could hear someone of his men - particularly Yassop - laughing. He would admit it must have been a funny sight. He was a Yonko and his face was being squished by a child. If he saw the same thing happen to Whitebeard he would be hysteric.

" ** _Tell me of the sea._** "

Everything went silent.

Holy shit.

That was Conquers Haki.

A literal child that barely reached his knees just used conquers Haki, and not a small amount either. He could tell without looking that some of his crew was unconscious, he hoped the barmaid was alright.

"What the fuck." He heard chorused around the bar with varying amounts of colorful langue thrown in. Shanks stared at the kid before him. The familiar force from earlier making sense. It was Haki, but not in a way he had ever felt it used before. It was no wonder it felt so familiar and yet different.

"Kid," he started slowly keeping his voice even not wanting to startle her. "Do you know what you just did?" She pursed her lips together, something he could not place flickering in her eyes. She stayed silent and did not move, she seemed to be contemplating something. She removed one of her hands from his face. She turned her palm toward the floor, tilting it back and forth but never turning it over. "Sorta?"

She nodded her head in confirmation. "Do you know what Haki is?" He needed to find out what this kid knew. If she was using Haki on purpose and whoever was teaching her was horribly inept with explaining when it should be used, or if she had awaked it on her own and did not know how to control it. The former could easily be fixed with a short explanation and a solid punch to however was teaching her. While the latter, if left unchecked, would certainly kill her.

She scrunched up her face even further as though the question was hard. She repeated her movement from earlier. "Sorta again, huh?" She nodded still making a strange face. "Did someone teach it to you?" Her face somehow scrunched further and she repeated the movement again. "Someone sorta taught you Haki?" He echoed for confirmation. She nodded her head and he could hear the still awake members of his crew swear.

This left her in the middle of the two. A basic understanding of how Haki worked but not enough control to stop it from causing herself harm. If he were to make a bet he would say that was why she was not speaking. If she had did not hold the reins on her Conquers it probably went wild every time she spoke. He was going to thoroughly beat the shit out of whoever was responsible for this.

It was possible to awaken it for a short blast in moments of hysterical panic, when you had a lot of adrenaline running through you. It was not uncommon for people to go beyond their limits in such moments. He had heard many stories of civilian women lifting small boats to help their children. The principle was the same. However, it was not permanent. Just as those women do not suddenly have a superstrength they can call upon at will, Haki would also return to a dormant state.

Whoever taught this kid about Haki fully unleashed it without teaching her how to turn it off. Her body was a balloon being filled with water and no one showed her how to turn off the tap. Eventual she would pop.

"Can I meet who taught you about Haki?" He spoke in false cheer, trying to keeping his murderous intent from leaking into his voice. He did not want to cause the kid to panic. If she did she would speed up the process. She relaxed her face and looked at him as though he had said something bizarre. Like he had told her with complete seriousness that lizard people controlled the world from the moon. He did not break eye contact with her holding his ground.

She slowly nodded her head and jumped off the stool. All the while looking at him like he grew another head. "Doc, help the barmaid. Benn, with me." He was struggling to keep his voice even. They silently followed his orders, the same fury burning in their eyes.

They followed her out of the bar and back to the port. She stopped and pointed at the sea and he swore. "Did they leave?" He asked running a hand down his face. Shit. He really hoped that they were still here. He wanted to have _words_ with them. But if they had left, god, he did not like the thought of there being someone out there who was half teaching kids Haki. She shook her head and pointed with more force at the sea. He stared at her blankly.

"The sea?" Benn mused. She quickly turned and point at Benn, nodding her head. "The sea taught you Haki?" He spoke disbelief coloring his words.

Shanks stared at this kid before him. Everything around him suddenly shifting into place. He had sailed with Roger, and he knew the man could hear a thing that no one else could and yet always seemed correct. He had asked Rayleigh about it once - worried that his captain might be a bit crazy. Though who wouldn't. No one else could hear the voices that Roger claimed to - and Rayleigh told him that Roger could hear the Voice of All Things. That everything, animals, plants, storms, and especially the sea had a voice and Roger could hear them all. That the Voice of All Things was the voice of the universe itself.

Shanks had at the time been disbelieving, thinking the man was playing a prank on him. Trying to see how gullible the cabin boy was. He had thought that until the Edd War. He saw things then that even to this day he could not explain unless Rayleigh had been telling the truth.

If she could hear the Voice of All Things then she could have picked up bits and pieces of what Haki was without fully understanding. He doubts that the forces of nature would know how to explain such complex things in a way that a child would understand. If he were to guess, the only reason they even would try was that she had already fully awakened her Haki. Considering it was not constantly running rampant meant she did have some form of a hold on it. Small but enough that it did not seem to be affecting her health. It was probably her ability to hear them that stopped her from already being dead.

"You can hear the Voice of the Sea?" He asked in a desperate hope to be wrong. Benn raised an eyebrow at him. Clearly wondering why he would believe something like that. She nodded her head. "Well, shit." He ran his hand through his hair and stared at the kid. He defiantly just had a baseball thrown at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My tumblr](https://gentianbalboa.tumblr.com/)


	3. Mother bear wakes to find cub missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makino wakes up and prepares to throw down with the pirates.

Shanks had no idea what he going to do. He was playing with fire, and if he was not careful someone would get burned. That someone wouldn't be him. It was easy for him to risk his own life, but risking the life of a child was not something he wanted to do. He did not want to make things worse and aggravate her condition on accident. Her control over her Haki was delicate and messing with it could be the final straw that broke it. But he had to teach her about it. If things were allowed to continue the way that they were, she would die.

He had no clue where to begin. Her Haki was completely new territory and there was no way to navigate it. The way she used it was different than anything he had ever seen. How does one teach something they themselves have never seen? And then there was the Voice of All Things. He had no idea how to even approach that. Nor did he know if hearing it caused any form of side effects. He would admit to being out of his depth

He would have to call Rayleigh. The man had taught him Haki so he had some experience with teaching kids. And if he was lucky, Roger may have mentioned something that could be helpful here.

For now, all he could do is see how much she understands the basics. It wouldn't do much with how much Haki she had, but it was a start.

The kid jolted him out of his thoughts when she made a slight shriek - her Haki spilling forth - and bolted towards the town.

* * *

   
When Makino awoke in her bar, she was needlessly to say confused. She could not remember what had caused her to faint nor had an idea as to why she did. As she regained she senses she became aware of two things. The pirates were still here and Luffy was gone.

She calmly arose from the chair she had been placed on and walked toward the counter. "You shouldn't be moving 'round yet miss." A large man with sunglasses spoke. She paid him no mind continued forward. He moved forward to help her. She quickly reached under the counter and pulled out a rifle.

"Where is my daughter." She hissed, venom counting each word. The man paused and slowly moved his hands up. The remaining pirates froze in their movements and watched her closely.

"She is with the captain. They went to go have words with whoever was harm'n your kid." He let the words leave his mouth slowly, making sure they were clear. Her glare hardened further.

"Explain." She demanded. She was not going to be fooled easily. If they were trying to stall or make her drop her guard so they could take the gun, she would see through it. If he was telling the truth and someone in the village was hurting her daughter, then she heard of a place on the other side of the forest where no one would bat an eye if a body showed up.

The man opened his mouth but before he could say anything the door to bar slammed open. Makino did not flinch, she flickered her eyes to see what it was. She lowered the rifle slightly when she saw Luffy.

Luffy ran over to her, grasping onto the bottom of her skirt and giving her a thumbs up. Makino maneuvered a hand so she could do the same without lowering the gun. Luffy smiled and ran back to the red-haired man as he walked through the door. "Kid, why did you run off like - oh." He paused taking in the scene before him. "The fuck is today." he murmured.

Makino turned her gun toward him and he did not blink or even seemed bothered by it. "I want a full explanation on where you took my daughter and why." She seethed.

He ran a had throw his hair and mulled over her question. "Do you know what Haki is?" She slowly shook her head. Keeping her movements to a minimum to not move the gun nor take her eyes from the man. "Figured as much. It is not well known in this part of the sea. Has she ever gotten any strange wounds after a moment of panic? Like large gashes appearing, bleeding from her eyes, ears, or nose?"

Makino's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?" She asked her voice softer than before.

"Your kid has a large amount of Haki and very little control over it. If she panics she is just shaking a hornet's nest." He looked down at Luffy, something mournful in his eyes before he returned his gaze to Makino. "If she doesn't learn how to control it soon, it will kill her."

Makino was quite. This was too much. She had finally gotten Luffy back, she could not lose her again. She took a deep breath and lowered the gun. "What do I need to do."

"There is not much you can," Makino visibly winced. "But I am going to teach her the basics. I know a few people that might be of more help, so I plan to give them a call."

Makino swallowed the bile in the back of her throat. As she took in what she had been told. "Why would you help her? What do you get out of this?" She questioned. This man may seem kind, but she could not let herself forget he was a pirate. There was far too much on the line for her to walk into this blind.

"Honestly, nothing. I may be many things, but I am not a big enough asshole to leave a kid to die from Haki overdose." He shrugged as he spoke. She was silent for a moment.

"Alright, but I want to be as much a part of all this as I can. She is my daughter and I will be damned if I let anything happen to her." Resolve covered her words as she straightened her back and looked the man in eye, daring him to tell her otherwise.

He laughed, this woman was filled with fire. "I got no complaints about that." She smiled and her eyes glanced at the man with the sunglasses.

"One more thing," She started to get his attention. He raised an eyebrow at her and waited for her to continue. "One of your men mentioned someone had been hurting her. What did he mean by that?" A sharp undertone filled her voice.

The red-haired man let out a long-suffering groan. "That is where things get fucking complicated."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://gentianbalbo.tumblr.com/)


	4. Fall from grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy deserves a break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for mentions of child abuse and panic attacks

Luffy did not understand a lot of what was happening. She did not understand why the lady would throw things at her and force her to clean up the bits of broken glass. She did not understand why she could not go outside or why the lady screamed at her whenever she spoke. She had asked the Sky if she did something wrong, and he wept when he told her that she had not. That none of this was her fault and that she could never allow herself to think that, not even for a moment. Luffy had thought that he might be wrong, why else would the lady always be mad at her. She wanted to correct him but with how hard he was crying she decided against it. She did not like making her friends cry.

She had spent nearly all of her days just talking to the voices. The Sea told her of a way they could speak without her uttering a single word aloud. Luffy liked taking this way, the lady wouldn't get mad at her and she could still talk with her friends. The Sea told her many things. She told her of great storms and embarrassing moments that people had upon her waters - things people thought no one had seen, but she did. She told her of great Adventures and Freedom.

Luffy did not understand some of the things she spoke of. She did not know why it was bad that some guy named Edward drank too much and lost his pants. She did not understand what adventure was, but the way the Sea described it did sound fun. She did not know what the other word meant - Freedom - meant, and when she asked the Sea she did not respond, instead, she raged. Calling forth storms and creating waves, the Sky eagerly joined in her fury.

Luffy did not understand why they got so angry when she asked them such questions. She wondered if she was not supposed to. She knew the lady hated it when she did. Maybe it was the same. You are wrong, the Past had told her. One day you will look back and you will understand. Everything is clear in hindsight.

* * *

It was always dark where Luffy was. The lady had kept her in a small place - a cupboard, the Sky had hissed when he explained - in the kitchen. The only light she had would stream in from under the door. The lady ignored her most of the time but occasionally she would open the door and scream at her to give something back. The first couple times it happened Luffy thought the lady had found out that at night - when her Island told her the lady was asleep - she went and took food from the big box. She had apologized and told her that she ate it. It only made the lady angrier.

Luffy learned not to say anything when the lady demanded she return whatever she had stolen. She learned that whatever the lady wanted back was not food. Though she could not figure out what she had wanted.

She had asked the Past, they always knew about things that had already happened. The Past told her that the woman had a frail body and birth has taken a toll on it. That due to the woman refusing all forms of help from doctors she had lost her ability to hear the Voice. That she was foolish and reacting due to misplaced blame.

* * *

At night, when her Island told her it was safe to move, she silently left her cupboard. She had learned quickly how to move when she could not see and keep her footsteps light so that she would not be heard. After grabbing everything she needed and placing it in her cupboard, she started to search the house. Her Island asked what she was looking for.

 _The Voice_ , she responded. If she could find it for the lady maybe she would be nicer.

It is not something that can be found, the Sky had told her. Many spend their blink of existence searching to never find it.

 _But the lady used to have it_ , she argued.

She did, but she shall never again. The Sea had promised.

 _Why?_ She whimpered, tears filling her eyes.

 _We are old child. Far older than anything you can comprehend. We do not forget and rarely do we forgive. We are aware that she suffered from the loss of us, but what she has done is unforgivable. You are ours now, and We do not take kindly to those who try to harm what is ours._ This voice was new. It did not sound like any she had heard before. It sounded like more than one voice, as though multiple were speaking all at once.

 _Who you?_ Luffy had asked.

_We are the Voice of All Things._

Luffy had tried to ask that voice more questions, but it never responded again. Luffy wondered if she did something wrong. That one does not respond to want, only need. A passing Storm had told her.

* * *

The lady screamed at her more frequently now and began to hit her. The Sea and Sky raged for days. The Past remained silent and bore witness. Burning the events into themselves.

Luffy was scared and she hurt so much. The Sea had told her of a way to make the hits hurt less. Armament Haki, She had called it. She had explained much of the depths of how it worked, but it was all so complex. Luffy felt like her head was going to explode. She did have an idea of what willing your body to be stronger meant.

When the lady opened the small place again, she willed her body to be stronger. It was not much different than when she willed the voice's to hear her. The lady had hit her and recoiled. "Haki?" She shrieked. "I knew it! You thieving brat! You stole it from me!" She hollered. Her fist turning black as she advanced. She pinned Luffy to the floor with her blows.

No, the Sea had screamed.

She will die at this rate, the Sky yelled.

Do not spill this child's blood upon me, her Island begged.

Stop, they shouted in unison. Stop, they pleaded. Stop, they demanded.

" ** _Stop_** ," The words left Luffy mouth chorusing with the strange voice she had heard only once before. And the lady did. She froze in her movements and looked at Luffy as if seeing her for the first time.

"What have I done," the lady spoke in a horrified whisper. Tears began to fall from her eyes and she quickly rushed from the kitchen.

Luffy laid there in a daze. Why had the lady listened to her? She normally only got angrier when she spoke.

 _With the force of the command, the fog covering her ming dissipated and she could clearly see what was before her. Do not pity her child, it was her choice to let these affairs reach this conclusion._ The Voice spoke.

 _You helped, didn't you? Thank You._ Luffy willed the Voice to hear before falling into the black.

* * *

When she awoke it was bright out. It had been so long since she had seen the sun she had forgotten how bright it truly was. She sat up and moved to crawl back into her cupboard.

You don't need to do that, her Island told her.

_But the sun is out. The lady will be mad if I am not in there._

The woman is gone. She can no longer cause you any harm.

Luffy was confused by those words. Gone? Did she go somewhere? She never left, why would she now? Sensing her confusion her island spoken again.

You no longer need to worry about her. Listen to me carefully and I shall tell you what you must do. Leave this house and I shall lead you to your mother.

_Mother?_ Luffy questioned the word foreign to her.

Yes, child. You are safe now.

* * *

Luffy had followed the instructions of her Island to a woman in a strange place. Luffy did not know who she was but her island promised that this woman, her mother, would keep her safe. Luffy was scared. So much had happened, but she trusted her Island, so she was trying to be brave. She would not cry. The lady always got mad when she did and she did not want this new lady to yell at her too.

Every expectation Luffy had of what living with this new lady -her mother she reminded herself - wash thoroughly destroyed. Nothing was the same. Her mother did not yell at her for small things, nor did she ever cause her pain when she held her. Her touches were gentle and she would pull her hands away if she saw her tense. Her mother told her to hold up her hand up and face her palm toward her if she ever felt uncomfortable with something - it did not matter what - and she would stop. She had told Luffy that not everyone liked being touched - even if it was just a pat on the back - everyone had different boundaries and she would always respect Luffy's. That was the first time she had cried in front of the woman. Luffy had remained silent while the tears fell from her eyes and hugged her mother.

She is acceptable, the Sea and Sky spoke at the same time.

I told you, her Island mocked.

She liked having her mother carry her around. She liked to be held, especially now that she knew there was something other than pain that came from another person's hands. It was during one of the days that she was being held that a large man had come into what she had learned was called a bar.

"Makino, I heard what happened." He started off despair covering his words. "I can't believe she killed herself." Her mother's mouth twitched as though she wanted to say something but held herself back."I should have listened, I am sorry. You tried to tell me something was wrong and I just brushed you off." He bent forward in an odd way that Luffy had not seen before.

"I am sure." Sarcasm laced the words softly spoken under her breath. The man showed no signs of having heard her. "You don't need to bow your head Garp-san." He stood back to his full height and his eyes paused at Luffy.

She stared back at him blankly. Her grip in her mother's shirt tightening.

He looked sad and far too old. "I know some people who can take care of her. You have done more than enough for me."

Makino pursed her lips looking like she had bitten into a lemon. She opened her mouth, before closing it and taking a deep breath. "I have no problem taking care of her Garp."

"Makino, you shouldn't have to. You are a young woman with a full life ahead of you. You shouldn't be saddled with a child that is not even yours." He sighed while he walked forward, reaching his hands out toward Luffy.

Luffy stared wide eyes at the man, she did not want to leave. Her chest started to tighten while a loud ringing to filled her ear. She could not hear much as the sound grew. She could make out her Island yelling something about not dumping another child there.

"Nonsense." Her mother spoke and her voice sounding like Fire's did. She had twisted her body so that Luffy was out of the man's reach. Luffy looked at her and understood why her Island thought she would be safe, protected here. Luffy felt her tension leave her. Distantly she could hear the Sea laughing as the man backed down and loudly declaring that she liked this woman. Luffy could not agree more.

* * *

Luffy liked helping her mother. She was so kind, she wanted to do something for her. She did everything she could to be of help and her mother would thank her and tell her that she did not need to worry herself and she could relax if she wanted. Luffy understood, but she did not want to relax. She could not speak and let her mother know how much she appreciated what she did for her. Actions are far greater then words, the Sky told her.

When she messed up and broke something she has never been more shocked by what the woman had told her. That Luffy was irreplaceable. The Sky told her what the words meant and Luffy's heart had never felt so warm.

It was mid-afternoon and she was in the bar helping her mother. Luffy was running to tables giving people napkins or helping put chips into a bowl behind the counter. Her mother was never far from her.

A loud crash echoed across the bar and she ducked underneath the counter. The lady was back. She knew she would come back that she would force her back into the small place. She did not want to go back. She had finally seen what the Sky meant when he said he could be blue, and she had finally met the Sea and she had made gentle waves for her in greeting. She didn't want to go back. She wanted to stay with her mother. Please don't make her go.

The loud ringing was back. She couldn't breathe. She was so scared. Please don't take her. Please let her stay. She was so happy now. please. please. _please_ -

 _Be calm child_ , The Voice filled her head. _No one will take you from your mother. You are ours. You are safe. You are protected. _Luffy felt her panic leave her. The Voice forcing it from her being. Her eyes felt heavy and she let sleep take her.

* * *

T he Sea had told Luffy that someone important was coming today. She had run to the dock and waited to see who it could be. After a while, she saw a ship appear in the distance. She bounced upward onto her feet and rocked back and forth on her heels. She did not know who the Sea was bringing, but she had always spoken of things called adventure and freedom - Luffy understood now what those words meant - so she knew it was going to be fun.

A ship came into view in the distance and as it approached she noticed it had a flag she had never seen on it. It looked like something out of one of the books her mother read to her. A skull - she thinks that is what they are called - with lines covering one of its sides. She wondered what it meant.

Freedom, the Sea sang. Luffy's excitement grew. She wondered what type of adventures one could have on the sea while free. She stared at the flag and did not remove her eyes.

"Hey kid, do you know of any bars around here?" She heard a man yell out, his voice slowly growing closer.

Look into the core of his being, the Sea told her. She removed her gaze from the symbol of freedom and looked at the man. She willed her eyes to let her see the man before her in his truest form. To strip away false bravados and let her understand what made him who he was. She gazed upon him and while he was not void of pain, he was filled with so much kindness. She liked that. She let the energy fade from her eyes.

The man leaned forward and coughed. She felt a bit bad. She did not know that it would physically affect him. The other men approached him. "Shanks?" The one with long black hair spoke. He moved closer to the man. "Devil fruit?" He had kept his voice low, but she still heard him. The Sea scoffed at the notion. The Sky laughed at her.

"What the fuck," the man spoke between coughs. "Seriously kid, the hell?"

This man will tell you of Freedom and Adventure, The Sea sang.

Luffy smiled brightly at her words and ran forward, grabbing on to his arm. She opened her mouth in to ask him of all the thing he had seen.

Wait, the Sea stopped her. Take him to the bar. He will tell you far more there _._

She snapped her mouth closed and pointed in the direction of the bar. He raised an eyebrow at her and she pointed again.

He does not understand, the Sky told her. Will him to.

So she did. _Bar_. She willed the word into his mind.

"Bar?" He asked, sounding unsure. He tilted his head as he spoke. She nodded her head vigorously and tugged his arms. She wanted to hurry. She wanted to hear what this man knew of Adventure and Freedom. "Sure, might as well." He reached and grabbed one of her hands from his sleeve.

"Any idea what just happened?" She heard someone ask.

"No clue. But at the very least, it will be interesting." He laughed and finally started to move. This would be so fun.

* * *

The distance to the bar had never felt so far before, but they had finally made it. Her mother stared at her when she entered and raised an eyebrow. Luffy beamed at her. This man knew of Freedom and Adventure and had stories to tell. She could not wait to hear them.

Her mother sighed and moved her gaze to the man while Luffy excitedly tried to pull him forward. "I know you are pirates, it is rather obvious. Normally I would be warier. However, since Lu seems to have taken a liking to you, I will allow you to stay." Her mother's voice did the thing that Luffy had come to associate with protection. "If you hurt my daughter I will throw you out." The Sea always fondly laughed when her mother did that voice.

"I promise we are not here to do any harm. We are just looking for a place with good booze." He laughed with his words, but Luffy could not care for the reason behind them at the moment. She pulled his hand again and he still wouldn't move.

Patience, the Sky chastised.

Never, the Sea and Luffy responded in unison.

"Then you may stay. What type of drinks do you all want?" Her mother voice returned to normal.

"Rum!" The group shouted and the man finally moved. Luffy pulled him to the counter and he took a seat. She struggled to get up and was grateful when the man stuck his leg out. She looked herself over to like she had promised her mother she would whenever she did something that was strenuous. Finding no issues she turned toward the man and gave him a thumbs up. She smiled when he returned the gesture to her.

Wait until he has a drink, then ask of me. The Sea told her.

Luffy waited in fitfulness - her excitement making it impossible for her to stay still - until her mother placed a drink in front of him. Luffy stood on the stool and grabbed hold of his face and smile stretching across her face. She opened her mouth and spoke.

" **Tell me of the sea.** "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://gentianbalboa.tumblr.com/)


	5. Not enough rum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayleigh is not drunk enough to deal with this.

Shakky knew something was going to happen today. She could feel it in the air like a prelude to a storm. When the Den-Den Mushi rang early in the morning and Rae's old cabin boy was asking for him, she was not too surprised.

"You are in luck, he got back yesterday." She took a drag from her cigarette. "Let me go grab him." She placed the speaker down on the counter. As she turned to walk away she swears she heard the boy mutter something about it not being luck.

She walked into a small back room where Rayleigh was passed out. "Rae, the red-boy is on the Den." She leaned over him and nudged his shoulder. He groaned and tried to move further under the blankets. "It sounded important." She pinched his ear and pulled his head up.

"Ow! Fine! Ok, I am up!" He raised from the bed, swatting her hand away from his ear. He cracked his back and groggily stumbled into the bar. He flopped down on a stool and slouched over the counter, while Shakky returned to her task behind it. "This better be _really_ important brat. I was nappin'," He yawned as he spoke.

"What can you tell me about the Voice of All Things." The brat asked sounding drained. Shakky paused in her movement and turned to stare at the den-den. Rayleigh was awake now. He sat up straight a griped the speaker tightly.

"It depends on what you are looking for. Why?" Shakky leaned forward to join him. They heard the brat sigh.

"I found a kid that can hear it. She has fully awakened her Haki but has very limited control over it, so I am going to teach her how. I need to know as much as I can about it before I start." Shakky 's cigarette fell from her mouth, Rayleigh stared at the den-den.

"You sure? That's really rare. I don't mean to insult you, but it took Roger years to reach the point where he could hear it fully." Rayleigh really hoped that somehow the brat was wrong. He knew he wasn't though. Shanks wouldn't have called if he wasn't certain. Though he could live in denial for a little while longer.

"Yeah, I am. She used Haki in a way I have never seen before. It wasn't one of the three types and when I asked her who taught her to use it, she told us the sea did."

"Fuck." Rayleigh and Shakky cursed. Shanks laughed.  
It took a minute and several existential crises later ~~Roger did you have a hand in this, are laughing right now~~ to get back any semblance of a conversation.

"I don't know too much about it, to be honest. Roger only began to awaken it when we went to Fishman island, took him a few months to use it at will. He only explained it as 'hearing what everything had to say,' and not much beyond that." The brat cursed.

"Do you know if it had any effects on him. The kid seems fine right now, but I need to know if there are any warning signs I need to keep an eye out for." Shank let out an exasperated sigh. "To be honest with how much Haki she has I am shocked she can contain it." Rayleigh's eyes widened. No. Dammit, now he knew for sure Roger was laughing at him. Shakky had the same suffering expression covering her face. They shared a look of mutual understanding.

"I am going to go get the good stuff," Shakky said as she walked away from the counter. Rayleigh sighed.

"Is she physically struggling to contain it or does it seem like someone had managed to jam the ocean into a cup." He ran a hand through his hair. He hoped Shakky got back soon. If he was right about this, he was going to need to be so drunk.

Shanks was quite while he pondered the question. "Ocean in a cup."

Rayleigh groaned. He must have snapped, he swears he can hear Rouge laughing - she had always been far scarier then Roger or any of the marines could have dreamed of being, and she would have found this hysterical. "What is the kid's full name?"

He could hear shuffling as Shanks moved away from the Den-Den to speak to someone. It took a few minutes before he returned. "Monkey D. Luffy," Shanks hammered the final nail into his coffin.

"Fuck today." He yelled.

* * *

Shanks has no idea why Rayleigh had been so weird over the Den-Den, nor why the man offered to come to the east blue to help him train. The older man knew something he wasn't going to tell him, and his response when he asked left nothing but foreboding. "I do actually like you brat, so I am not going to give you a mental break down." That had left a bit of a sour taste in his mouth. He wasn't going to lie and say that the fact that Rayleigh did not think he could handle whatever was going didn't hurt. But he heard Shaki swear, and he had only heard that once before. So whatever this was it must be rather big.

He had a few days to kill before the old man got here, so he figured he might as well take the time to get to know the kid. It was easy enough to find the kid. She had taken to going up into the crows nest on the red force and staring at the jolly roger. He didn't really get why she wanted to stare at it for hours, but she was free to do what she wants. 

He climbs into the nest and sat beside her. "Why do you like staring at the jolly roger?" He asked genuinely curious about her answer. She opened her mouth and closed it again, she scrunched her brow trying to figure out a way to convey her thoughts. "You can talk here, most the crew is in the bar and the village is out of your range." She pointed towards him and he laughed. "I can handle a little bit of Haki, pipsqueak!"

She shot him a glare and puffed her cheeks in a pout. " **Freedom** ," she hesitantly spoke just above a whisper. Watching him closely for any signs that it caused him pain. " **It means freedom, I wanna be freest person in world**."

Shanks smiled at that. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, he knows now that this is the reason the sea brought him here. He leaned forward and pulled his straw hat from his head, holding it in his hands. "Kid, do you know what the Pirate King is?" He questioned as he twirled the hat. She shook her head. "That flag is the symbol of pirates, some sail the sea's looking for freedom and adventure. But the Pirate King is different." He paused for dynamic effect. She was staring at him intently. "The Pirate King is the person with the most freedom in the whole world." The kid broke into a huge smile.

" **How become!** " She demanded. He smiled at her.

"Set out to sea, build a crew, and find the one piece."

" **One piece?** " She asked.

"The former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, gained everything the world had to offer and left it all in one place. He said right before he was executed that anyone who could find it could have it and would gain his title as King of the Pirates." Shanks watched with glee as the kid stared at him, mouth agape, but smiling nonetheless. She suddenly stood and pointed at her chest.

" **'m gonna be King of the Pirates and be freest!** " She declared and he knew that she would.

"Luffy do you see this hat." She nodded and plopped back down. The excitement still in her eyes at finding her goal. "This hat is my treasure, someone very important to gave it to me." He pushed it down onto her head. "I am going to entrust it to you. When you become a great Pirate come give it back." He grinned at her. She smiled and extended her arm, her fist clench all but her pinky. Shanks laughed and wrapped his own pinky around her's.

It was a promise.

Four days later Rayleigh docked at the island, took one look at the small girl wearing the old straw hat. Pulled out his flask and chugged it.

* * *

Teaching the kid how to control her Haki had been an uphill battle, even with Rayleigh's help. She seemed to pick up how to control her observation and armament while applying the same principals to the fourth form she knew. But nothing they did stopped her conquers from leaking from her words whenever she spoke.

While the progress on that front was going slow, Makino's was going surprisingly fast. She had managed to pick up all the basic's and could apply an extremely thin layer of armament. Shanks was shocked at how fast she did it. Rayleigh had laughed and told him that this was why you never picked a fight with a mother bear. They were far more vicious than anything else in the world. Shanks could only nod his head and agree.

* * *

Luffy was frustrated. Nothing she did stopped - what she now knew was her Conquers Haki - from spilling forth every time she spoke. She did not know what she was doing wrong. She had tried to ask the Sky and Sea, but they told her that there were somethings she had to figure out for herself. That she could not be dependent on them for everything.

That frustrated her even more. How was she supposed to figure it out herself when she didn't even know what she was doing wrong. Makino was holding her now. Carrying her around, while Shanks teased her for pouting.

She wasn't pouting! She wanted to yell but stopped herself. Her mother could not handle the brunt of Conquers yet. She settled for sticking her tongue out at him. It caused the man to laugh harder.

She was broken out of her thoughts when a loud crash filled the bar. Makino's grip on her tighten and Luffy tilted her head to see the source of the noise. A group of men stood at the entrance to the bar, one of the doors on the floor, the man at the front still had a foot in the air. She guessed he kicked it off. rude.

"Sorry for the interruption." Luffy did not like the sound of this man. His voice sounded off. As though it was a broken bell not making a proper sound. Something about it made the hair on the back of her neck stand. The bar was silent as the walked in. "So these are so-called pirates. They look like idiots." He muttered but made sure it was loud enough to be heard.

The man walked up the counter and stood near where Shanks was sitting. Makino set Luffy down behind the counter and walked over to them. "Welcome," She greeted.

"We are bandits," the man bragged looking down his nose at Makino. "We are not here to destroy your bar. We need ten barrels of sake."

"I am sorry, but we're out of sake at the moment." She spoke calmly not reacting to the man's rudeness.

"Hmm? That's strange. The pirates are drinking something... Is it water?"

"All the sake that we have is out there."

"That's not good," Shanks spoke, pausing from eating his food. "We drank everything. Sorry," He lightly chuckled. Shanks turned and grabbed an unopened bottle next to him. "If you want, you can have this. I haven't opened it yet." He extended to the man.

The man clenched his fist and broke the bottle, spilling its contents all over Shanks. Makino's eyes widened. "I'm a wanted man. I'm worth 8 million Belli. One bottle won't nearly be enough." He opened his mouth to continue talking but stopped when he heard the sound of a gun cocking.

"Get out of my bar." Makino hissed at the man.

Shanks laughed and waved his hand a Makino. "That really isn't necessary." She paid him no mind and glared at the bandit.

"Now listen her little-" the gun went offer. The man fell to the ground and clutched his leg. Blood poured from the fresh hole in his thigh.

"I won't repeat myself again. Get out of my bar or the next time I shoot you it will be between the eyes," her voice was eerily calm as she spoke.

The bandit leader cursed as several of his men helped him up. "I will remember this, you bitch!" He yelled as they dragged him from the bar.

"Makino, that was really not needed," Shanks said as they left. "It was just sake."

"It wasn't about that," She moved quickly to Luffy. She kneeled down beside her and slipped her hands to cover Luffy's ears. "The sound of glass breaking causes her to have a panic attack." Makino's voice wavered as the emotions finally began to hit her.

"Shit," Shanks cursed jumping over the counter. "Doc!" He yelled. Said man stood and rushed over. This was bad. He could already feel the Haki starting to boil under her skin. Luffy was breathing heavily her eyes tightly closed.

"Kid I need you to take deep breaths," Doc ordered. Makino moved one of her hands slightly so Luffy would be able to hear. "Fuck, I don't think she can hear me." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a needle.

"What is that?" Makino asked in alarm.

"A tranquilizer. I have been carrying them around in case something like this happened." He stuck it into her arm. "With how much Haki she has we don't have the luxury of dealing with this delicately," he caught her when it took effect. Luffy's breathing began to even out. "I need to take her to the med-bay. I don't know if there was anything damaged." He picked her up and looked at Makino while he spoke.

"Is she going to be ok?" Makino asked just above a whisper.

"I will do everything I can," The Doc promised as he rushed out the bar.

* * *

When Luffy finally awoke, Makino felt such relief fill her she thought she would faint. Luffy tried to move to sit up but was stopped. "Don't be trying to move yet, kid." Doc, she recalled him being called, moved said. He placed a hand on her shoulder and helped her back down.

"You need more time to rest," Makino spoke softly brushing the hair from Luffy's face. Luffy turned her head to look at her. Makino looked exhausted. She had bags under her eyes and her usually neat hair was atray.

"Mama ok?" her voice was hoarse and came out just above a whisper. Makino's eyes widened and her mouth fell out.

She pushed back her feelings and smile down at Luffy, large and genuine. "I am alright." Her voice cracked as she held back tears. She was so happy.

 _Rest now child_ , the Voice commanded. Luffy fell into slumber.

* * *

When Shanks walked into the med-bay and saw Makino crying over Luffy, he assumed the worst. "What happened," he asked dreading the answer.

"She," Makino took a deep breath in a futile attempt to hold back her sobs. "She called me mama."

Shanks blinked and let out a sigh of relief. "That is great." He said taking a seat next to her. "How she doin Doc?"

"She put her body under a lot of stress, but we managed to avoid any real damage. She will be out for a while and I want to keep her here until she is conscious. So if she has another panic attack we can deal with it quickly."

Shanks nodded and turned back to the kid. He really did not like seeing her like this. He never wanted to see this again.

* * *

The next time Luffy opened her eyes it was dark. She knew her mother was beside her, she could feel her presence. Luffy stayed still as not to wake her. Luffy was mad. She was mad at herself and the bandits. She hated feeling so helpless. When she was finally free from the small place! She wasn't going to be sent back! There was no way her mother would let that happen! So why did the sound of glass shattering make her think she was back there? Why did the sound steal the air from her lungs and fill her with fear? It was just glass! She should be able to deal with the noise and yet every time she heard it nothing in her head would work anymore.

That is normal with all that happened, the Sea hummed a soft tune with her words. No one expects you to be able to move on overnight, especially since you have been deprived of the ability to speak of your trauma's.

We may have been too harsh in the decision to have to find the solution the complication with your words, the Sky hummed the same tune as the Sea. There are more important things that must be dealt with before your dependency on us.

 _So you will tell me?_ Luffy asked.

Yes, they replied.

But not at this moment. You must rest, the Sky soothed

 _I am not tired_ , Luffy complained.

The Sea gently laughed, Shall I tell you a story then?

_Yes._

This is a story of a woman so fierce she made the very laws governing this world bend to her will. A woman who faced the whole world to protect the most important thing to her and won the fight. This is the story of the rampaging tyrant, Portgas D. Rouge.

* * *

It took two days for the Doc to let Luffy leave the med-bay. He told her that she was not allowed to do any strenuous activity and Luffy had done nothing but grin at him while he spoke. The moment she set foot outside the med-bay doors she bolted away at her top speed. Doc had let out a long-suffering sigh at the sight.

"Slow down there kiddo," Yassop yelled as she ran and slid through his legs. Not wasting a moment to go around him. She was finally out of that room and the Sea and Sky promised to tell her what she was doing wrong with her words.

We will wait longer if you harm yourself with these antics, the Sky reprimanded.

Let her have her fun. Just the thought of being cooped up that long makes me ill, the Sea sneered at her own mental image.

She kept running until Rayleigh picked her up. "What's the rush brat?" He chuckled.

Perfect, the Sea yelled. The problem you have with speaking is that you are far too used to only communicating with us. For us to hear you without you saying anything aloud, you must will the words into existence. You are in the most simple sense coating your thoughts with Haki. You do not need to put large amounts of will behind your words when you speak aloud. Just let them fly free as though they are birds on the wind. I shall help restrain it just this once, so you may have a frame of reference for the sensation of words without will. Now look at that man and tell him you are the storm.

"Brat," Rayleigh questioned at the sudden silience.

Luffy shoot her head up to look at him. "I am the storm," she spoke softly. Staring Rayleigh in the eyes as she did.

"Nope," He yelled dropping her on the ground. "I'm out," He turned on his heel and walked away as fast as possible. "Once was enough!"

The Sea roared with laughter.


	6. Meeting and an overdue story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garp makes does what he thinks is best.  
> Makino makes a grown man cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments! Sorry for not replying to them until now... All of your support is greatly appreciated!

Things had finally settled to be less turbulent. Now that Luffy had figured out how to speak without her Haki running rampant - and was able to control it so it was not a raging storm within her - Shanks felt it was safe to leave. He and his crew would set sail a few times and return several weeks later to check up and make sure that there were no problems before they return to the New World.

The voyages had been rather uneventful. They stayed in the Blue Seas - not much in the Blues could surprise him, and no, that was not an offer for the sea to prove him wrong - They had avoided the Marines as much as possible. The amount of trouble the Marines would cause if they found out he was going out of his way to vist a single mother and her child would be horrendous. There was little doubt in his mind that they would assume things, and he remembers well what happened on Baterilla when they had heard a rumor - a rumor for godsake - that Captain Roger had sired a child. Shanks would like to keep the World Government as far away from the village as possible. 

When they returned and no one was at the docks - an unusual sight, Luffy had always been at the dock when they arrived. Regardless of the time. Even when the had once arrived in the middle of the night. She had nearly given Yassop a heart-attack when she grabbed him - It was a glaring sign that something was wrong. The crew kept themselves at the ready as the walked into the town. Braced for the need for quick action. They tensed when they found a crowd in front of Makino's bar. Shanks moved quickly to get past the people so he could see what was happening. 

Makino beating a large group of men while Luffy watched eating a handful of crackers was not what he expected to see, but not an unwelcome one. "Oh, hello!" Makino stopped beating the man currently in her grasp as she noticed the arrival of the pirates. "I should only be a minute more and then I will open the bar!" She spoke cheerily - an odd contrast to the blood covering her fist and splattered on her shirt.

"Take your time," Shanks laughed. 

He really liked her.

"Don't move," one of the bandits yelled. In the moment that Makino had been distracted one of the men had gotten up and moved behind Luffy. The bandit pressed his gun to Luffy's head and grabbed ahold of her arm. "If you move I will shoot her!" A hush fell over all the people present. The only sound that could be heard was the continued crunch of Luffy eating her crackers, paying no attention to the man holding her hostage.

Makino kept her eyes on the man as she opened her mouth to speak. "Luffy, lunchtime," she spoke calmly, not letting any of the rage she felt into her voice. Luffy's eyes lite up and in less than a breath, the man was on the ground, foam spilling from his mouth. Luffy quickly stood and ran into the bar. Makino smiled as she watched her daughter run off.

Shanks let out a laugh. He turned back to Makino. "Do you want us to finish cleaning up the trash?" He asked making a sweeping motion toward the men crumpled on the ground.

Makino smiled brightly and clapped her hands together. "That would be lovely! I will give you a few bottles of rum on the house as thanks."

Shanks laughed.

He might be in love.

* * *

When Shanks left the island he had known that he had made the right choice. He had teased Luffy with her refusals to say goodbye, he thought she was pouting over the fact that they weren't coming back. He was shocked by the confusion she showed. "Why say bye? Will see again," she had spoken with such certainty Shanks could not find a single part of him that could doubt her words. 

Now all that was left was to wait and see just what type of storm she would bring with her when she finally made it out to sea.

* * *

When Garp arrived on the island he had been looking forward to spending time with his granddaughter. His job left a narrow time frame for any personal matters. He greatly cherished the few moments he was able to spend with her.

"Gramps," He heard a voice call to him. He turned to see Luffy running towards him. He felt joy fill his entire being. She had just called him gramps! He brightly smiled and reached out to catch her when she jumped at him. He was so happy to hear her speak again. He had been worried when she stopped talking when her mother passed, scared that the grief may have taken her voice for good.

"News! News! News!" She chanted as she flung her arms around. He words were sloppy and she had a slight lisp, but he could not care.

"You got some news?" He asked brightly, lifting her higher and spinning her around. She nodded her head and threw up her arms.

"Gonna be Pirate King!" She declared. He froze in his movements, his smile slipping from his face.

"Wh... What?" He stared at her blankly. There was no way he had heard her right. He had to have been mistaken.

"Gonna be Pirate King!" She grabbed hold of the straw hat hanging loosely off her back and pulled it to her onto her head. "Promise Shanks!"

He stared at her his eyes comically wide while he did nothing but blink at her

He knew that hat.

It did not take a genius to understand the meaning behind her broken sentences and slurred words.

He set her on the ground and loomed over her. "No grandchild of mine will be a no good pirate!" He yelled raising his fist. "Fist of love" he shouted and he brought it down upon her head.

Luffy fell to the ground and clutched her head. Fat tears rolled from her eyes as she stared up at Garp as terror poured into her bones. She clumsily with shaking hands clutched the edge of the straw hat and held it so tight her knuckles turned white. She stared at him, her whole body shaking like a leaf in the wind. She held his gaze, her eyes filled with determination. A stark contrast to her tiny shaking form. "Will." she declared softly her voice breaking as sobs threatened to spill forth.

Garp sighed heavily and picked her up by the back of her shirt. "Leaving you here was a mistake. We will start training to turn you into a proper Marnie." He yelled and marched toward the mountain.

* * *

Garp loudly banged his fist on the door of the lone cottage at the top of the mountain.

"Hey! Shut the hell up," a large woman yelled as he flung the door open. "Whatever it is your selling I don't want none!"

"Dadan," Garp yelled. 

The woman's face lost all color as she saw just who she had been screaming at. She stepped back in fear and threw her hands up in mock surrender. "Garp!" She screamed. "What are you doing here," She screeched drawing the attention of the other inside the house.

"Charming as ever," he sighed.

"Sorry for the cold welcome," She stepped out of the doorway to make room for two men to exit the house. The first was a large man, only taller than her by a few inches. His hair was red and style to look like a chicken. The other was short, only up to her waist. He wore a light gray turban on his head. "But I hope you don't have another ridiculous favor to ask us. You realize Ace is already ten right?" She shouted at him.

"Oh is he now? And how is the little scamp doing?" He asked nonchalantly. "Good?" He laughed.

"Well he is a handful of course," the short man with turban stated. 

Dadan's eyes fell from Garp to the sound of light sobbing coming from the ground. She blinked a few times to make sure her eyes wear not fooling her. A child was at his feet! A small girl with head buried in her knees, sobs shaking her whole body as she clutched an oversized straw hat like a lifeline. While a part of her wanted to comfort the crying child - she did not like the sight of kids crying. But she found it understandable. What sane person wouldn't want to cry at the sight of Garp - she had couldn't offer any sentiment though. Not when Garp was present and not when she just knew that this child involved some ridiculous thing that madman would ask her to do. 

"And we've been watching over the brat for long enough! So just take him away!" The short man plead.

"Nevermind," Garp waved his hand, brushing him off.

"Ya, that's the problem we do mind!" The short man complained.

"Speaking of brats with you shut that one up," Dadan yelled drawing everyone's attention to the kid. Garp reached down and picked her by her shirt. Her sobs grew louder as she was lifted.

"She's yours now," He stated simply as though he was talking about unimportant as the weather.

"Huh?" Dadan drawled as she stared at the man. She was convinced he had gone senile.

"Wait a sec! Who is she," the tall man questioned worriedly. His hands hovering near the child but never touching. He looked at the small girl with pity as she continued to sob. Dadan only continued to stare at the crying child. Her mouth slowly forming a frown as her eyes flickered back and forth between Garp and the child.

"Hey Luffy, tell them hello." Garp shook her and held her up to the three adults. He sighed when she did not answer and continued to cry. "She is my granddaughter." The words forced all attention back onto Garp.

"What!?" The three bandits yelled in unison.

"I never heard about this," The short one yelled.

"And you want us to take care of the little monster - little darling I mean," Dadan shriek in panic.

"No way," They all yelled in unison. Garp set Luffy down and loomed over the bandits.

"Fine, then I will give you two choices. You can either raise my granddaughter or spend your life in prison." He threatened. They blanched at the thought. Neither one seemed favorable. "Pretty generous considering all the crimes you've committed." He laughed.

"No fair," The bandits.

While Garp was busy threatening the bandits he did not notice Luffy sneak away. She crawled to the base of a large tree, hoping to hide in its roots. She looked up when she heard a noise and found a boy in the branches. He glared down at her, a sneer forming on his lips. She stared back her eyes widening while her tears slowed to a halt.

Luffy did not take her eyes off him as she moved her hand to point to her cheeks. "Dots," she forced herself to speak. Her voice cracking and rough from all her crying. The boy narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips together. He looked ready to jump down and attack her. "Like Rogue." All animosity was lost as those words left her mouth. The boy's jaw went slack and he stared at her wide-eyed like a deer frozen in headlights.

"What," He asked disbelieving that he had heard her correctly.

"Dots. Like Rogue," Luffy spoke more clearly this time. "Rogue from stories."

"Stories?" He repeated slowly.

"Stories," She nodded her head. "Wanna hear?"

The boy stared at her. A myriad of emotions dancing across his face. It all left his face quickly as the fire returned to his gaze and the sneer formed anew as he noticed Garp approaching. Luffy looked over her shoulder to see what had caused to boy's ire only for her eyes widened in terror at the sight. The tears began a new and she quickly curled into herself again.

"I see you two have met!" Garp spoke cheerily paying no mind to either of the unwelcoming reactions from the to children. "Luffy this is Ace, Ace this is Luffy," He pointed to the individual as he said their name. "He is three years older than you. Anyway, you're going to be living with him and Dadan from now on." Her sobs increased.

"What! Not so fast," Dadan yelled as she rushed over.

"Stop crying already," He sighed as knocked her over the head with his fist. "Marines don't cry!" She curled in on herself further as her sobs increasing.

A strong gust of wind blew through the forest. The trees bellowing with it. It made the forest sound as though it was wailing.

Dadan glanced at the sky. It seemed clear now, but she knew a storm was coming. A big one judging from how the wind was picking up. She quickly snapped her attention to Garp wanting to get the madman to leave even faster now. "We said no," Dadan yelled at the man.

He turned and glared at the bandits. "You'll do it." His voice lost all pretense and was cold. The blood rushed from the bandits faces and they took a step back.

"Sir, as you wish sir," they surrendered.

Ace continued to glare at the man, his eyes occasionally flickering to the brat at his feet.

"Time to hit the road, I will stop by when I have some time." He said as he walked away from Luffy and toward the path down the mountain.

"What about some child support," the short bandit called after him.

"Put it on my tab."

"This isn't a bar," Dadan muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing! Come back soon," She yelled her voice filling with false cheer. Garp left without another word. The boy jumped down from the tree and walked past Luffy his gaze lingering for only a moment.

"Boss, we're bandits! We can't take in another kid," the tall man complained.

"Shut up and fix dinner!" She let out a tired groan as she ran her hand down her face. "We will figure something out."

* * *

Makino ran through the village streets. Her breathing erratic as she wildly moved her head back and forth, clearly looking for something. She only stopped her movements when she found a bin or table that needed to either be opened, or she would have to bend down to check under. She searched every nook and cranny she could. "Garp," She yelled as she saw the man.

"Makino, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly as he took in her disheveled appearance.

"I... I can't," She leaned forward and placed her hand onto her knees. He heaved and forced herself to catch her breath. Her sides burning from the exertion of running around the village. "I can't find Luffy."

Garp blinked at her and then laughed. "No need to worry about that. I took her to live with a friend of mine so I could train her to be a strong marine!"

Everything was silent and it seemed as though Makino had stopped breathing. She took a deep breath and stood up straight. She stepped forward and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him down to her eye level. There was not a trace of the usual kindness that filled her eyes. Instead, they were cold. She peered down her nose at the face she had forced to her eye-line. Her lips curled in disgust as she looked at the man as though he was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. "You did _what_?"

* * *

Luffy stayed outside and did not join the bandits for their meal. She was far too scared to enter the house. She knew that many of the people inside were dangerous and not like the pirates. She knew that Shanks and his crew could be dangerous if they wanted to, far more then the bandits could even dream of being, but when she had looked into the core of Shanks's being she knew that he wouldn't hurt her. He was kind and helped her. Even the funny old Rae-Rae had asked to help teach her was the same. Dangerous but not a threat. She could tell with a single glance at the lone cottage that the same could not be said about all the people behind those walls. 

Luffy moved to the tree roots and climbed underneath them as she had planned to earlier. She clutched onto her straw hat and went through the breathing exercise that Shanks and Rae-Rae had taught her. She needed to make sure she was ground to reality. Luffy knew that if she lost control now, it would mean nothing good. There was no one who could help her here. She felt tears start to fall again.

She was so scared and didn't know what to do. Between trying to regulate her breathing and the sound of the Sea and Sky yelling - They were not summoning storms like the times that they had raged together before. The may have been furious, but they had enough state of mind to know that Luffy would be caught in it - her thoughts were a mess and she could not think of a plan of action. 

"Hey crybaby," A voice called snapping her attention to them. Luffy wearily peaked out from her hiding spot - not sensing anything bad from the voice - She saw the boy - Ace, he had been called - glaring at her. "The old bastard told you about my mom," he accused. Luffy stared at him and shook her head. The boy hissed at her. "You said you had stories," he yelled.

It took her a minute to understand what he was talking about. When it hit her she immediately jumped to her feet and gaped at the boy. "Rogue mama?" She shouted in excitement.

"What's with all the noise," one of the bandits yelled. Ace shot a glare at them before turning back to Luffy.

"Follow me," he hissed lowly as he stomped into the forest. Luffy did as he told her and trailed behind him.

After a bit of walking, they reached a small clearing. The boy quickly turned around and glared at her again. "Tell me what the old bastard said." He demanded.

She tilted her head in confusion. The words not making any sense to her.. "G-gramps," she stuttered on the word, forcing it out as bile rose to her throat at the thought of the man. "Not tell anything."

His glared sharped. "What," He yelled in an accusatory voice, believing he was being denied the information.

"Sea told about Rogue." Ace stared at her and blankly. This time it was her words that made no sense to him.

"You don't make any sense," He yelled. "Just tell me what you know!"

Luffy smiled and sat down and waited for him to do the same. "She called Ran...Ramba...Rampag...ing," She forces the words from her mouth. The length and unfamiliarity of the words making them hard for her to say. "Tyrant. She fi-ght gov...gover...men..t. She founding member of rev...olut...ion..aries."

They sat like this for hours. Ace hanging off every broken word as Luffy retold the story of Portgas D. Rogue, the Rampaging Tyrant, a founding member of the revolutionaries, and how she forced even the laws of that governed the world the bend to her will.

* * *

Ace had been pissed. When a brat had shown up with the old bastard and would not stop crying. It was annoying. When he found out that the old bastard had told the brat more about his mother then he had told him, he was livid. 

Why did this crybaby brat get to know more about his mother then he did? What right did she have to those stories, to the history of his blood? Why did she get to know so much when he knew nothing? 

He was angry, he could feel his blood boil. However, when she told him that the old bastard was not the one who told her his anger dissipated slightly. He was not sure what she meant when she said the sea told her, but she could barely talk. Her words were broken and she had problems pronouncing them. She would pause often while talking to try out words as though it was her first time saying them. He figured quickly that it probably was. Ace found it safe to assume that she just did not have the words to tell him who had been the one to tell her the stories of his mother. 

He felt his anger lessen with each new piece of information she freely gave him. He felt fear run through his veins when she mentioned Roger. She had apologized to and confessed to not knowing much about him. The sea would tell him anything - it did not want to spoil anything for her, she had said like it made any sense. He wasn't about to argue though. He did not want her to stop telling him what she knew. 

This girl was weird but she had given him more information about his mother than anyone ever had. He had sat and listened to her until the sky had gone dark. He sighed and stood up. "We should find a place to camp. Trying to get back in the dark would be suicide." She stood up and nodded her head and trailed after him. He kept an eye on her while they moved. She had more to tell him. He couldn't let her get eaten yet.

"Why'd the old bastard drop you with the hag? You're his grandkid right," He asked as he gathered sticks that looked usable for a fire as he lead her toward a small cave he knew was around here.

He heard her whimper, and he rolled his eyes thinking she would start crying. "No want me to pirate," she spoke softly. His eyes widened and he turned and looked at her.

"You wanna be a pirate?" An undertone of excitement in his voice. 

She beamed at him. "Gonna be Pirate King," She yelled. 

He laughed at that.

"A crybaby like you if gonna be the pirate king? Don't make he laugh," He moved forward and led her into the cave. 

"Will," she spoke firmly. With far more determination then he knew she had. She followed him into the cave and he dropped the sticks down on the ground and started to build a fire.

"So the old bastard is trying to make you into a marine then," he started speaking again once the fire was blazing. She nodded and looked downcast. He did not understand why she got so sad whenever he mentioned the old bastard. "You don't like the old bastard much do ya?"

She scrunched up her face and stared into the fire. "He like lady."

He stared at her and laughed hysterically. "You think the old man is like a girl!"

She shook her head. "The lady." She whispered like a secret.

"The lady," he questioned.

She started to shake. He knew she wasn't cold with how close she was to the fire. "Lady mean. Yelled and hit me. Kept me in small dark place." 

Ace stared at her. He was not naive enough to not understand what that meant. Some lady had hurt this brat. She was scared of the old bastard because his behavior reminded her of the person that hurt her. He had seen many people in the grey terminal that had the same issue. When someone did something that reminded them of something in the past, they would start freaking out.

"Lady not like I was born."

All thought left him at that. Ace felt his lungs tighten as he snapped to gaze to her.

He stared at her for a while before he managed to find his voice. "She didn't like that you were born?" He repeated vacantly. She nodded her head and pulled the straw hat down.

Neither of them utter a word as continued to stare at her.

It was silent for a brief moment before Ace once again broke it.

"What was your name again?"

"Luffy."

"I'm Ace." He said softly as he stared at the fire. "I know a cool place at the base of the forest. I can take you tomorrow if you want."

"wanna go," she smiled at him and Ace could not help but smile back.

* * *

"Don't you think you overreacting," Garp asked as he led Makino up the mountain. "Breaking my nose was a bit much."

Makino scoffed at him. "No, it was not. If I did not need you to take me to Luffy, I would have done far worse."

He sighed. "I understand that you worry about her, but this will be for the best."

"Enough!" She yelled and stopped moving. "You do not get to decide what is best for her. She is my child, you don't have the right!"

He turned and glared at her. "I don't have the right!? I have more of a right then you do! I am her grandfather and you are just a woman I let watch her! That couldn't even do that and let her get coerced by pirates!"

"I AM HER MOTHER," she screamed. "I changed her diapers! I took care of her when that woman abandoned her with me! I helped her take her first steps! I taught her, her first words! I cared for her when she caught her first cold! I feared for her when that woman came back after three years and took her! I went up to and tried to see her nearly every day and was denied! 

"I held her through her nightmares and I treated the wounds she had from her time with that woman. I have been helping her deal with what happened to her! And those pirates that you spit upon saved her life!"

Makino moved forward and bared her teeth at Garp. "While you weren't here! While you ignored all the times I told you something was wrong and left her to be beaten by that woman! 

"So no you don't have the right to make any decisions regarding Luffy! You lost that right when you decided to be a blithering fool and hide in willful ignorance! So you will take me to my daughter right now so that I can do what is actually in her best interest!"

Garp stared at the woman glaring at him murderously and swallowed. "Al..alright," he croaked. He turned around and continued up the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](https://gentianbalboa.tumblr.com/)


	7. Makino breaks a man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makino snaps and makes a grown man cry.

When the sun lit up the sky Ace and Luffy left the cave and made their way down the mountain. Ace matched Luffy's pace as they walked as he tried his best to make sure that she had no problems with the path. The two walked in silence until they reached the bottom of the mountain. Luffy left out an excited gasp, her eyes lighting up at the new sight.

"This is the grey turmoil. You can find almost anything here." He smiled and led her toward the garbage pile.

* * *

Sabo was bored. Ace hadn't shown up yesterday and there was not much else he could do without the other boy except for looking through the garbage piles for anything that could increase their pirate fund. Doing that alone quickly lost appeal and grew tedious. He had managed to rob a few people but that was also not the same when he did it alone.

"Sabo," he heard Ace call his name. Sabo turned toward the noise and smiled at the other boy. ace called to him. His face froze in shock at the sight of a girl trailing just behind Ace.

"Who's that," Sabo asked pointing at her.

"This is Luffy. The old man dumped her with the bandits," he spoke nonchalantly.

"I'm surprised you brought her with you." Sabo brow scrunched in confusion at his friend's behavior.

"Shut up!" Ace yelled at the other boy.

Luffy ran over to the blonde and stuck out her hand. Sabo blinked at it for a moment before taking it. "N'ce me-et you," She forced out her voice sounding rough. He tilted his head in confusion at the sound but nonetheless returned the greeting.

"Did something happen to your voice?" he asked.

She looked confused for a moment before realization crossed her features. "Ta-lk l-los-ts no us-ed to ta-lk."

Sabo raised an eyebrow trying to piece together her broken sentence. It was made far more difficult with the scratchiness of her voice.

"She was talking to me a lot yesterday. Apparently, the old bastard had some secrets that he thought no one knew but she did."

"And she just told you?" That sounded suspicious. Why would she give up information for free?

"M-e'an."

Sabo turned to Ace and waited for a translation. "She doesn't like the old bastard. She thinks he is mean, so she had no problem telling me." Ace grinned. Sabo raised his eyebrow, but did not question further.

"So what do you want to do?"

Ace pursed his lips and thought. "We could go rob some people or see if there is anything cool laying around."

Sabo hummed and turned his gaze toward Luffy. "How 'bout we rob some people. If this is her first time in Grey terminal it should at least be interesting."

Luffy nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Well, then it's settled let's go find some suckers!"

The conversation was cut short when Luffy reached out once more and grabbed his hand and Ace's with the other. She pulled them forward and ran back toward the forest.

"What are you doing," Ace yelled as he was pushed into a bush. She removed her hand from his and slapped it over his mouth.

Sabo turned to ask the same but noticed she was not looking at either of them. She stared ahead. Her gaze was sharp but not deadly. She looked panicked. Like a wild animal that had been backed into a corner and was trying to flee. The two boys followed her gaze to a large ugly man holding a mace and two very beat up smaller men with him.

"Shit," Ace heard Sabo's muffled curse. Sabo removed her had from his mouth and kept his voice low while he talked.

* * *

Makino had finally managed to reach the small mountain hut early in the morning. They had spent their night hiking up the path in the dark while trying to shield themselves from the light rain. While it was not enough of a storm that they would be forced to find shelter it had drastically slowed them down.

When she finally made it to where Garp had taken _her daughter_ , she felt her anger grow even further. That man had left her child with people that were not fit to be near children let alone care for one. They were wanted criminals who expressed that they wanted nothing to do with the children.

Children!

She was beyond livid when she found out there had been another child forced to live here. When she inquired about the other child - Ace, she learned - it took all over her will power not tear these people apart. The way they talked about the boy ~~burden, monster, demon spawn~~ it sickened her. No child should be forced to live with such cruel people.

She knew what she was going to do when she found the kids. Luffy would surely enjoy having an older brother and with what she just saw, she can safely say that Ace would not object to leaving.

And if Garp tried to stop, well, she would deal with what remained of his body when that time came.

She was already planning to at least put the man in a full body cast for leaving any child in these conditions. Not to mention that the people that Garp had trusted enough to look after two children were not even cable of such. The kids were missing! They had wandered off into the forest the day before and no one was looking for them!

Makino cursed as she trudged her way through the forest. "Luffy," she yelled. "Ace!" For now, while she searched for them all she could do was pray that they were safe.

* * *

"Shit," Sabo cursed when he saw the people they had robbed early enter the forest with a large man. "I didn't know they were Bluejam pirates."

Ace clicked his tongue as they slowly got closer to their pirate fund. "They are going to find the stash at this rate."

Sabo cursed again as he watches them. "Imp-or-tant?" Luffy asked tilting her head at the scene, a look of confusion covering her features.

"Very," Ace hissed.

"We need that fund to start are pirating carriers," Sabo elaborated. Luffy's eyes widened and her gaze sharped.

"We need to find a way - where did she go?"

"Fuck, she is over there," Sabo pointed to where Luffy now stood in front of the large man.

The man peered down at her. "That kid might know the other one," one of the men covered in bandages spoke.

"Oh?" The large man scoffed.

"Le-av-e."

The man blinked and then broke out laughing. "Kid you seem confused about something. We are Bluejam pirates we aren't going anywhere. Now if you give us the money, we might at least let you live."

"Lea-ve."

"If you want to do this the hard way then-"

" **Leave.** "

The man fell to his knees as the breath was forced from his lungs. He gasped as she tried to force them to work again. He shot a glare at the girl and reached out to grab her. She easily maneuvered away from him. "You little bitch what did you just do." He hissed as he struggled to stand again.

He lunged at her, his shaking legs failing at the movement forcing him to fall on his face. He struggled to look up at her again. Luffy stepped forward opened her hand a swiftly moved it towards the man's face.

Slap!

The sound echoed through the area. The large man fell toward the ground unmoving. Luffy turned towards the men wearing bandages. She pointed to the large man. "Take. Leave."

The two men scrambled to comply, quickly dragging the large man away.

"Holy shit."

"What the actual fuck."

* * *

"How did you do that," Ace asks glancing back and forth between Luffy and where the Bluejam pirates once stood.

"Haki," Luffy deadpanned.

"What is haki? Is it some kind of superpower? Is it some type of devilfruit? But I thought those were only myths! What was-" Luffy help up her hand stopping Sabo's onslaught of questions. She turned to look deeper into the forest. A wide smile suddenly appeared on her face.

"Mama," she yelled grabbing hold of the two boys hands and running into the forest.

"Mama?" They questioned in unison.

Luffy pulled the two boys forward to a woman in the distance. "Lu!" The woman exclaimed as she rushed forward.

Luffy stopped in front of the woman and smiled. "Ace," Luffy smiled lifting said boy's hand above her head. "Sabo," she repeated the motion.

The woman smiled and started checking the three over. "Are any of you hurt," she fussed.

Ace and Sabo were baffled but managed to croak out a "No."

"I told you they would be fine," Garp said exiting a brush behind Makino. Luffy paled when she saw him, her grip tightening on the hands she held as her arms dropped. The reaction did not go unnoticed.

"Old bastard," Ace hissed at the man moving forward slightly.

"That is no way to talk to your grandpa," Garp yelled as he quickly rounded on the boy. "Fist of love," he shouted as he brought his fist towards Ace's head. His hand never made contact. Luffy pulled on the hand she was holding and pulled Ace away, while Makino grabbed Garp's wrist.

Makino looked at Garp with ice in her gaze. "You dare to try and lay your hands on a child." Her voice was low as threats unspokenly laced her words.

"He needs to learn how to behave if he is going to be a proper Marnie," Garp defended.

Ace scoffed. "I told you I ain't gonna be no shitty marine."

"Yes, you will you brat!"

The grip Makino had on him tightened while she poured haki into her hand, causing Garp to wince.

"I don't care what excuses you make, you will not lay your hands on these children. Nor will you attempt to force them to fit whatever mold you have planned out for them."

Garp sighed like he had been the one wronged. "Makino you don't understand," he started.

"I understand plenty," she hissed. "I know far more than you think I do. Unless you truly believe that woman managed to keep her mouth shut." Garp's eyes widened at the implications.

"She told you," he whispered fear-stricken. How many others knew then?

"No," Makino denied. "But she told Lu and if you think my daughter wouldn't tell me then you are a fool."

"Then you must understand why she must become a marine!"

Makino laughed coldly at his words. "You are a bigger fool then I thought! It is that reason why she can't!"

"It will make her safe," he insisted.

"It will get her killed," she spat. "It would not matter how high in the ranks she climb nor the achievements she earned. They would find out and use her as leverage. Then when they had no more they could gain from her they would dispose of her."

"That is not true."

"Stop deluding yourself! You have been a dog of the World Government long enough to know it is!" Makino sighed and looked at him with pity." And I understand that it is hard for you to admit that they are wrong. Because if you do that you have to admit that the actions you did in their name were not always justified and it scares you." She took a deep breath and let the ice return to her gaze. "but I will not let you put my child in harm's way so you may run from your guilt."

Garp stayed silent as his expression crumples. Makino let go of him and turned the kids. Ace stared at her in awe. While he did not understand much of what they were talking about, he had never seen someone silence the old man or stop him in any way.

Makino let the ice leave her eyes and smiled warmly at the kids. "Why don't you come with me and we can get something to eat."

The kids nodded and followed after Makino. Leaving Garp behind in the forest.


	8. Stronger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They knew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have uploaded two chapters since this one is short. So check out the one before this!
> 
> I am sorry that I skipped over quite a lot. I couldn't figure out how I wanted to write a good deal of it. I did not want to delay and wanted to start writing what happens when Luffy goes out to sea. The skipped over events follow canon with the exception of Makino adopting Ace and Sabo.

Luffy grabbed the edge of her shirt. Her breathing was erratic. This could not be happening. There was no way that Sabo could -

No.

She would not even think that.

This was not happening.

It happened.

No. No. No Nonononono it couldn't be

His fate was sealed the moment he crossed paths with those vile worms.

What? Sealed? That would mean... No, it couldn't.

_Did you know what was going to happen?_

__

Yes.

Luffy froze at the response before rage washed over her. _YOU KNEW HE WAS GOING TO DIE AND DIDN'T TELL ME!? HOW COULD YOU!? I COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!_

_  
_

__

_Do you need us to wipe your ass for you too?_

__

The response shocked her. Luffy had never heard The Voice swear.

__

_ We are not your caretakers nor are we obligated to carry you on our backs. You are being capable of thought, use it. If you want to change the course of fate then use your own hands! Make your own choices! You do not need us to coddle you! If you don't like the path that is in front of you then defy it! _  


__

Luffy bit her lower lip. She knew they were right. That she needed to do things herself. That she needed to stop being so dependent on them, but they couldn't have done it differently. Why did her lesson have to be learned at the cost of Sabo?

__

It wasn't fair.

__

If she had been stronger none of this would have happened. If she had understood what they meant when they told her she was dependant she could have made up her own mind and gone after Sabo. Instead, she waited for someone to tell her what to do.

__

If she had been stronger Bluejam would have never been able to take him in the first place. She was weak. Weak. SHE WAS WEAK!

__

She needed to be stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger.

__

Strong enough that she would never have to lose someone important to her again.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Luffy sets out to sea!  
> 


	9. A boy with a spark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy is gonna push this kid towards his dream

The salt air tasted sweet to Luffy. It held no bitterness, only the promise of freedom, adventure and so much more. It had been mere moments after her island had faded from her sight - the point of no return behind her - that a storm swept in and threatened to sink her boat.

A welcoming, the Sea laughed as she raised her waves. Luffy laughed along with her as she crawled into a barrel to avoid the storm. She did not know where she would end up, but she knew it would be fun.

* * *

  
It took several hours for anything to change. The ebb and flow of the water had long since rocked her to sleep. Luffy awoke to the sound of voices outside her barrel. She made no movements and stretched out her Haki around her to feel her surroundings. From what she could, she was on a large boat with another next to it. While most of the people were centered in one area she could feel many moving around both ships.

She shrunk her focus to those just outside her barrel. Three men and one child. It did not feel as though anyone was a threat her - none of them had the aura that Haki wielders do - so she would not have worry if things came down to a fight. Though she decided she would watch them, for now. She was mildly curious about what these people were doing and if it turned out to be something boring, she could still use a bit more sleep.

Luffy quickly came to the conclusion that she did not like these three men. The way they loomed over the child, causing him to shake in fear was not something she liked the implications of.

As the larger man reared up to punch her barrel Luffy figured this was as good as any moment to make her entrance. She shifted her body so she could jump up. Luffy angeled her hand so it hit the man in the chin. "I slept so great," She yelled as she moved. She smiled at the shocked faces of the other two men.

"Who the hell are you?" They screeched.

"Your friend will catch a cold sleeping there," She spoke nonchalantly.

"You're the one who knocked him out!"

She stepped out of the barrel ignoring the two. Luffy turned to the kid, he had large glasses covering most of his face. Impractical. She thought offhandedly. "I'm starving, got any food?"

The boy did not answer and stared in terror behind her. Luffy knew what he was looking at. The other two had not taken kindly to their friend being knocked out and had decided that violence was the best way to handle the situation. She did not want to deal with fools like these. Fools who could not even take a moment to look beyond themselves and wonder why there was a girl in a barrel, to begin with. Luffy sighed internally and turned around. She flung her fist out - using far more movement then it would take, slowing herself so the men would be able to see them - and broke their swords.

"That was rude," Luffy said as she looked down at them disapprovingly.

The men paled and scrambled to grab their fallen friend and rush out of the room.

"What- QUICK! You gotta run!" The kid jumped to yell at her. "If those guys come back with their buddies then they will kill you on the spot!"

Luffy laughed. "I don't care about that, I'm starving." The kid continued to yell at her about many more of those men there were on the ship and she needed to flee. Luffy paid him no mind and tuned his voice out as she focused on her quest for food. She attempted to move forward towards where she could smell something good but the kid clung to her arm in an attempt to stop her. Luffy continued to ignore him as she moved forward, the extra weight not bothering her.

She entered a storage area and laughed loudly. "Food! Food!," she chanted as she started to dig through everything before her. She was disappointed that there was not any meat, but she would make do. The apples she found weren't bad, while not her favorite fruit she would still eat them happily. Food was food after all.

She could hear the kid start talking to her again, no longer hearing a whine in his voice she listened to him.

"My name is Cobi. What's yours," he asked. His voice calmer now, though there was a slight tone in his voice Luffy did not like. He spoke gently, choosing each of his words carefully as though he was testing her reactions, trying to see what would set her off. Luffy did not like when people were forced to learn to do that.

"I'm Luffy," she spoke sloppily and cheerfully between bites of the apples. She hoped that the ridiculous sight she made would take some of the pressure off the kid. "Is this a pirate ship?"

The kid shook his head keeping a slight distance from her. "No, this is a passenger ship that is being raided by pirates." He spoke mournfully. "Pirates under the command of Lady Alevda." Luffy caught the change in tone when he spoke the name of the pirate captain. She could make a decent guess at what that meant.

"Who cares, I wanna know if there are any boats on board." She quickly changed the topic. She could sense some of the tension leave the kid when the pirates were no longer the topic.

"I think there are a few," he said softly.

"That's good! Cause mine got sucked into some big whirlpool." She spoke with exaggerated movements as she delicately let her Haki fill the room in a calming aura.

"That huge one from earlier!" He exclaimed "No way! No one could have survived that!"

Luffy laughed and smiled at the kid. "It was a huge surprise!" The kid weakly smiled back at her. "So, are you one of the pirates or one of the passengers?" Luffy asked calmly. The kid's face fell and Luffy listened as the kid recalled his story to her. Of how he was being forced to work for the pirates.

"Why don't you just leave?" She asked gently. She already knew the answer though - she understood far better than most - but it wouldn't hurt to give the kid a push.

"No way! I can't do that! Just the thought of Alveda finding me makes me want to throw up!"

Luffy hummed at his answer. This Lady Alveda would have to go. Luffy knew that as long as the kid thought that that woman would come for him - the fear that no one could stop her - he would allow himself to be pushed around for fear of making it worse. Plus, beating up a woman who had no qualms with kidnapping kids and forcing them to work for her would be fun for Luffy. Though before Luffy did that she would have to get this kid to stand up for himself. There would be no point in interfering if the kid went and let himself get pushed around by the next person who tried to use him.

"Do you want to work for her forever," She questioned, pushing a bit more Haki at him to ensure he would speak honestly.

"No! I have my own dream of what I want to do," He sighed mournfully. "Though I probably won't be able to do it now." Probably. That was a good sign, he hadn't fully given up yet. Even if it was small there was a bit of fight left in him. She could work with this. "What about you? Do you have a dream?"

Luffy smiled largely at him. Showing a bit more teeth and looking a bit more like a wild beast then she intended. Luckily she had enough Haki calming the kid so he did not react. "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

The boy stared blankly at her until the words sunk in. "No way! It's impossible! Pirates from all over the world are looking for the One Piece! There is no way! Impossible! Impossible!" He yelled in panic frantic shanking his head back and forth in disagreement. The kid was working himself into a panic. Luffy knew that other people did not have the same problem she had, but Luffy had read lots and lots of books - Sabo couldn't read anymore, so she would read for him - about many things. Luffy knew that the kid could still have problems if he had a panic attack.

She quickly reached out and placed her index finger right between his eyebrows, directly sending a burst of calming Haki into him. He froze in his movements and stared at her.

"It is not about if I can do it." She spoke slowly making sure he was listening to her. "I am doing this because I _want_ to. I have chosen this and if I have to die fighting for it, then I die." The kid's eyes widened at her words and Luffy saw a spark flash in them. Good. She was making progress.

"I never thought of it like that," He whispered. "If I put my mind to it, if I am prepared to die for it could I do something like that?"

"Like what?"

"Do you think I could ever join the marines?"

"Marines?"

"Yes!" Cobi shouted. The spark burning brighter. "Catching bad guys is the only thing I have ever wanted to do! Do you think I could do it?"

"How should I know?" Luffy could see his face start to fall so she quickly continued. "That is entirely up to you."

"Then I will do it! I will break out of here and catch Alveda myself!" Luffy smiled at his words but she did not reveal in it for long. She grabbed the back of Cobi's shirt and pulled him back towards the wall. Right as she did the ceiling came crashing down. A large overweight woman standing in the wreckage.

"Who is it that you plan on catching Cobi?" The large woman spat. Cobi stepped back in fear at the sight of her. "Well? Answer me!"

This must be the pirate captain that Cobi was afraid of. While it was sooner then Luffy would have liked - she had just lit the fire in Cobi, if it was snuffed out so soon getting it started again would be far harder - she could work with this. Luffy pulled her Haki back from the room and centered her calming Haki on Cobi. If she managed to subdue his fear enough then she just might be able to get Cobi to stand up for himself.

The whale - Luffy had decided to name this Alveda woman - turned to at Luffy and looked down her nose at her.. "My guess is you are not Zoro the Pirate Hunter." Luffy did not acknowledge her and kept her focus on Cobi. She had stepped back enough that Cobi would not be able to cling to her and would have to face the whale himself. Luffy kept her calming Haki on him, not throwing him to the wolves, just yet.

"Cobi," The whale bellowed. Luffy inwardly cringed at the noise. "What is the most beautiful of all on these Seas."

Cobi stuttered out nonsense as he tried to form an answer. He would need more help Luffy realized. "Hey, Cobi, who is the fat lady?" She asked blandly pointing at the whale.

The crewmen and Cobi stared at her in horror. "YOU RUNT," the whale screeched swinging a massive spiked iron club at her. Luffy was able to move away easily enough, even while slowing her movements.

Luffy jumped in front of Cobi and picked him up by the collar. "Let's go." Luffy jumped again with more force and landed on the deck. She maneuvered fighting the crewmen while dragging Cobi along with the other hand. Once he was close to the rail and further away from where the whale was, she let him go and started to fight with more flourish. Luffy exaggerated her dodges and attacks. While anyone who knew anything about fighting would probably feel embarrassed by the silly movements, Luffy knew that to a kid with no training it would look cool.

Luffy could see Cobi staring at her in awe as she took down the people who had been making his life hell. It was short lived as the whale climbed back onto the deck, her face beat red at the sight of her crewmen sprawled out on the deck.

The whale calmed herself and approached with more caution, obviously on guard. "You are more skilled than the average deck swapper. Are you a bounty hunter?"

"No, I'm a pirate."

The whale laughed. "A pirate? All on your own? Well, since we aren't friends I suppose you won't have any problems with me killing you."

Cobi came up to her again and tried to get her to leave once more. "You gotta run! Out of all the villainous cheats on the sea's Alveda is-" Luffy turned her gaze to him and steeled it slightly to show her resolve. One more push should do it.

Cobi stared at her before turning to the whale. "You're the ugliest thing on the sea!" He yelled.

Luffy threw her head back and laughed. Cobi had done it. He could be free now.

"What did you say," the whale sputtered.

"I am leaving," Cobi stated firmly not backing down. "I am going to join the marines! Then I am going to spend the rest of my life beating up dirty pirates like you!"

"Do you have any idea what you are saying," the whale hissed.

"I do. I'm going to join the marines and there is nothing anyone can do to stop me! And when I do I am going to catch your lousy ass first!"

"You're dead brat!" The whale hollered as she raised her club.

Luffy stopped laughing and took a deep breath. She placed one of her hands on Cobi's head and ruffled his hair while the other caught the club before it could land. "Well said Cobi!"

Luffy turned toward the whale and smiled showing all of her teeth. She swiftly stepped forward and slammed her open palm into the whale's stomach, sending the whale flying backward and off the ship.

Luffy laughed and brushed her hands on her pants. She really needed to wash them. She had been touching far too many dirty things today. Luffy lazily tilted her head to the remaining crewmen. "Hey, you!" she shouted at them.

"Yes," the sputtered out.

"Go find a boat and give it to Cobi. He is leaving you ship to join the marines. You are not going to stop him." Luffy spoke firmly leaving no room for arguments. She threw in a bit of conquers to make sure no one got any funny ideas.

The crewmen sputtered out agreements and ran off to follow her orders.

"Thank you, Luffy." Cobi said overjoyed.

Luffy turned around to look at him but before she could say anything the boat was rocked by cannon fire. Shit. She got to focused on what was right in front of her and the marines snuck up on her. "Perfect timing head over there and tell them you want to join," Luffy said as she jumped over the railing into a lifeboat. "I'm a pirate so I'm out of here."

Cobi started to ramble at her again. She was starting to think it was funny. He jumped into the boat with her as she unhooked it and set sail.

She could not wait to see what was waiting for her next


	10. The first crewmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is how you get people to join your crew. Yes, she is doing it correctly.

As Luffy walked through the town - Cobi trailing behind her trying to stop her in her attempts to meet the Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro - she let her Haki spread around her. While the town looked normal by all appearances - filled with the hustle and bustle of civilian life - it felt strange. It felt like walking on eggshells. It reminded Luffy of how Cobi first acted when she first met him. Fearful and waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the blow to land.

This was not a good sign.

Especially, since this town was centered around a marine base. Luffy could make a pretty good guess at what was happening here and she did not want to get involved. While she felt pity for the people of this island, she was a pirate, not a revolutionary.

She would check out the island - keeping as low of a profile as possible - see if there was anything worth her time and then leave.

When Cobi yelled out the name of the Marine Captain stationed on this Island and the people around them jumped like the had been hit, any doubt of what was happening was gone. She would need to hurry then.

It did not take long for her to find her target. Considering he was tied up and on display. There were two things that this could mean and she needed to know which it was before she made any drastic moves. First, he was a bloodthirsty monster that hunted pirates so he would be able to kill legally. That he had crossed a line that even the marines would not turn a blind eye to and they were making an example out of him. Second, he was a person with a strong moral code and he defied the marines because something they did went against that code. The Marines don't allow people to question them so they placed him out here as an example.

Either way, he was meant to be out here as an example to someone.

Judging from the way the town was and what Luffy could glean off the surface of his being - she was not good at looking to deeply and not being noticed. Causing a tied up and obviously starving man distress was not on her to do list - she was leaning toward the second of the two scenarios.

She would need to observe more to see if he would be good for recruiting. Especially, since she would no doubt have to fight the marines to get him to join her. She did not want to go through all the annoyance of fighting these marines only to find out her guess had been wrong and he really was just a scumbag.

Though in all the ways she was planning to go over there and test his character, a little girl approaching him first was not one of them. Well, this was not what she wanted to do, but she could work with this. Beggars can't be choosers. At the very least, Luffy was certain she could get to the little girl before the man managed to hurt her.

Cobi started to freak when the man yelled at the little girl - worried that this was a sign of violence - while, Luffy's opinion of the man was rising. The man seemed to have a decent understanding of what would happen if the little girl was caught helping him and was trying to force her to leave. He chose to take a more drastic approach - since he could not do much else - to get her to leave rather than sweet talk the little girl into letting him go. The man had enough honor not to use a child for his own gain.

The small moment was interrupted by a what might be three marines. Luffy doubted that the man in the horrid purple suit and chopped bowl cut was a marine. Even their standards aren't that low. The purple suit stole one of the little girl's rice balls, shoving it in his mouth in a rather crude display of arrogance - they could have been poisoned, they were meant for a criminal - and proceeded to spit it out nearly immediately.

"Horrible!" He shrieked loud enough that they could make it out from their perch on the wall - even without using Haki. The purple suit continued to yell - something about sugar? Luffy really did not care. She was not going to waste energy to listen to that man - and rip the rest of the riceballs from the little girl's hands before stomping them into the ground. Luffy could hear the little girl begging him to stop. Luffy would have to think of something mean to name him - she probably wouldn't though. That would be far too much effort to waste on someone she would forget existed in an hour.

The purple suit bragged about how his father - Captain Morgan - had ordered that anyone who assisted criminal would be executed.

Haha, no.

Luffy was very many things but she was not someone who would just watch a child be murdered in front of her. While Luffy did not want to start anything with the Marines of this Island, if they were going to do something like that in her presence, Luffy would level this place.

Luckily it seemed that the purple suit man was a coward. Instead of ordering the little girl shot or stabbed he had her thrown over the wall. Luffy moved fast to catch the little girl before she hit the ground. Luffy dusted them both off - a quick scan with told her that the worst injury the little girl had was a skinned knee. Maybe that would help her learn not to break into government facilities to talk to wanted criminals, or maybe not. It wouldn't do much to diswayed Luffy - She handed the little girl over to Cobi and let him handle it.

Luffy climbed over the wall and approached the man in the now solitary field. She stared at him until he noticed her. "I hear you're a bad guy."

"Are you still here?" The man's voice dripped in exhaustion. That was usable. His buttons would be easier to push and Luffy could get some honest reactions out of him even if she did not nudge the truth out of him with her Haki.

"Displayed out here for all the world to see, are you really that strong?"

"Mind your own business!" The man snapped.

Luffy walked closer keeping her body language neutral. "If I were you I would have starved to death in three days," Luffy lied while laughing at her own joke. Mama would not be pleased if she knew Luffy was making jokes like these.

"I have more spirit then you will ever have," he grinned at her. An inferno lit behind his eyes. "I will survive this." This man had great resolve. Another point in his favor.

Luffy smiled and let out a small laugh. She turned to leave - she needed to investigate more before she made up her mind - the man stopped her.

"Wait, hold on." Oh? Was he going to ask her to set him free? Was that resolve just for show? Or did the man not have a problem using people as long as they weren't children? Luffy watched the man as he turned his eyes toward the riceballs in the dirt. "Could you pick that up for me?"

"You gonna eat this," Luffy made sure there was no judgment in her tone.

"Shut up and give it to me!" The man snapped. Luffy messed up her tone she guessed - she was still bad at that. Mama and Ace always seemed to be able to tell what emotion she was trying to convey even without much change in tone. It was impossible to mess up with the Sky and Sea. She could just will her emotions at them. She would need to work on this - Luffy still did as he asked ad fed him the mud covered riceballs. The man struggled to eat it. From the look on his face, it must have tasted bad. Regardless he still ate it all. "It was good. Thanks for the food." More points in his favor. She was really starting to like him.

* * *

After leaving the man and climbing back over the wall, it did not take Luffy long to find Cobi. She had kept his presence pinned within her observation so she would not lose track of him. She found Cobi with the little girl, carefully treating some of her scraps.

"Hey," Luffy called out to the little girl. She sniffled and turned to look at Luffy. "He said your riceballs were good."

The little girl stared at Luffy before her face lit up with realization "Really!?"

"Yep. He ate every last grain of rice."

The little girl wiped the tears from her face and smiled. "That's great!"

Luffy sat down on a barrel near the two. Cobi staying oddly silent. It took a moment for him to speak. "I wonder if Zoro is as evil as everyone thinks he is."

"He's not!" The little girl vehemently denied. "He's good," she started softer. "He got himself punished for us."

"What do you mean by that," Luffy asked gently.

"It's all that dumb Helmeppo's fault. He's the son of Captain Morgan so no can stand up to him. He brought a huge dog into the restaurant that my Mama owns and it went to attack me. Zoro killed it to save me. When Zoro started to kick Helmeppo's butt, Helmeppo threatened me and my Mama. So Zoro made a deal with him. If Zoro can survive a month strung up out there he will leave my mama and me alone and then let Zoro go."

The little girl took a deep breath before continuing. "It has been three weeks since then and Helmeppo keeps punching and kicking him while he is tied up! He is not being fair!" The little girl started to cry again.

Luffy can now say two things for certain. Purple suit deserved to get his ass kicked and Zoro was joining her crew.

Luffy could ensure that Zoro would survive ten more days. If Luffy used her Haki just right she might be able to let channel her energy into Zoro and have him use her energy instead of his own. She had never tried it before but this would be as good a place as any to learn. The only other thing she had to do was avoid the marines in the meantime. Once Zoro was free she would let him decided how to handle purple suit.

The sound of glass shattering caught their attention. While the noise did not hold the same amount of danger for Luffy anymore, that did not mean she liked it at all. The noise made her crinkle her nose in disgust. It was like nails on a chalkboard.

She could feel purple suits aura coming from where the sound originated from. He was no doubt making a ruckus. While she would like to avoid him as much as possible for the next ten days, she felt he had earned a fair bit of broken bones. Luffy quietly entered the restaurant and kept her distance. While she could not do anything to him that would be obviously her, there were many things she could do that would look like an accident.

Luffy did not pay attention to what nonsense he was as spouting until something caught her attention. "...execute Zoro tomorrow," followed by an ear grading laugh.

That lying, sleaze, asshole. He had no honor and she was going to break his jaw. It nothing but lies came out of his mouth it would no doubt be an improvement. Luffy ran towards him and flung the table across the room. Using the surprise to distract the Marines with him she pulled back her fist and punched the purple liar in the jaw. She felt a bit of satisfaction with the crunch that came from it.

"Luffy, no!" Cobi screamed as he rushed forward and wrapped himself around her in an attempt to stop her from attacking again. Luffy kept an eye on the Marines. While the did not have Haki the were supposed to be highly trained soldier. Based on how their muscles moved when she threw the table, they had not kept up with her. If that is the level of the marines on the island she feared for the state of the base.

"Y-ou h-it m-e!" The purple suit screeched clutching his mouth as he failed to make his words come out clearly. " 'm Ca-tai-n Mor-gan's s-on!"

"I do not care." Luffy hissed.

"Yo-u w-i-ll ca-re wh-en he ex-ecu-tes y-ou fo-r th-is!"

"Fight me yourself, coward." She growled.

Cobi managed to hold her back long enough for the purple lying coward to leave. While she could have easily broken free, she did not want to harm Cobi. She took a deep breath to calm herself and waited for Cobi to let go. Now she was going to fight those Marines and save her first crewmate.

* * *

"Why are you back," Zoro asked obviously annoyed.

"I am going to untie you and then you are going to join my crew," Luffy stated.

"What!?"

"I have decided that you are going to join my pirate crew, so I can't let you die here."

Zoro laughed at her words. "No way! I would never stoop to joining with a criminal!"

"What's wrong with being a pirate? At least I keep my word."

"What is that supposed to mean," Zoro hissed.

"That purple lying coward is planning to execute you tomorrow." She stated bluntly. Zoro's eye widened as the color fed his face. "So if you join my crew I will untie you and we can leave."

Zoro was quiet for a moment. "My swords, I can't leave without them." Luffy tilted her head to the side and thought.

"Do they have names?" Luffy asked.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at her. When her gaze did not falter he answered. "One of them does. It's named the Wado Icihimonji."

Luffy nodded in acknowledgment and then headed toward the marine base. _Wado Ichimonji_ , she called out to the sword. _I am here to take you back to Zoro. Tell me where you are._

 _Here_ , Luffy heard the faint call of steel. _Here, I am here._

Luffy followed the voice to a pink covered room. She easily located the swords - they really stood out - and went to grab the one she could hear the voice coming from.

 _All of us_ , the swords spoke together. _We are all Roronoa Zoro's limbs._

_Limbs?_

_A sword is the extension of the person who wields them. When used right we become as though another limb._

Luffy nodded in understanding. While not getting how Zoro used three swords she would not just leave things that were Zoro's behind. Luffy picked them up and made her way to the window. Looking down she could see Cobi attempting to untie Zoro. She pushed the window open and jumped down.

Luffy ran over to the two and held out the swords in front of Zoro. "Yours?"

He smiled and nodded. "All of them are mine."

"Well, what do we have here? A criminal who dares to commit treason against me! You will die for this!"

Luffy turned to look at who spoke. It was a large man with an ax for a hand. Luffy vaguely recalled Cobi calling the captain of this base Axe Hand. This must be why. Well, this saved her the trouble of going to look for him. She couldn't risk him turning his ire to the town's folk once they were gone. She would just take him out and leave. If there were any decent marines in this base, they would use this opportunity to remove him from power.

Though the real question was whether or not to let Zoro fight. She could tell he was getting ready to, but he had gone for three weeks without food. While this would be a good opportunity to gauge his fighting style and abilities, she knew the fatigue had to be getting to him. She turned to look at him and caught his eye. He seemed disgruntled by whatever he saw.

"I can fight," he insisted - did he just read her? That was a first. She was extremely good at keeping the emotion off her face when she did not want it there. Only Mama and Ace had ever been able to read her face. He might have some latent Haki. She would need to look into it later - Luffy nodded and watched as Zoro stepped forward to fight.

"Keep the marines away from Cobi. I am going to kick that big guy's ass." Luffy said as she stepped in front of him. Zoro stared at her and laughed.

"You must be confident in your abilities to fight a marine captain alone."

Luffy gave him a baffled look. "Is he supposed to be strong?" Zoro laughed loudly as Luffy turned to look at Morgan. She squinted her eyes and leaned forward doing a more focused scan with her Haki. She could tell based on how he held himself that strength was his strong point. His muscles - while they had more strength than the average person - weren't even on the level the bears in the forest on her island. "I don't see it." Zoro continued to laugh as Cobi started to snicker. Did she say something funny?

"You scum! You dare mock me! I am the great Captain Morgan! I will kill you for this! Get them!" The marines rushed toward them and raised their swords but Zoro moved faster.

Zoro blocked their blades with his own. One in each hand and one in his mouth. "Don't move," Zoro hissed at the marines. Their bodies tensed as they heard the threat lacing his words. "It seems I don't have much of a choice. No matter what I do I will become a criminal today so I might as well join you. But I want you to know one thing, while I am with you the only thing I will dedicate myself to is fulfilling my ambition." Zoro stared her down the inferno blazing again. Luffy tilted her head in question. "I will be the world's greatest swordsman!"

Luffy smiled at his words and nodded in approval. It was a good dream. "If somewhere along the way I have to give that up, I want to accept responsibility and apologize to me from the next world." Luffy grinned, he was going to be fun.

"Why are you idiots just standing around!" The ax yelled. Luffy turned her gaze back to him. Right he was a thing. She was really done with this whole thing. She had gotten her first crewmate and she wanted to spend time messing- er, getting to know him. She just wanted to be down with these annoyingly arrogant marines.

Luffy raised her leg and kicked the marines off Zoro. She put just enough Haki into her leg to break their swords. "Who the hell are you," Zoro asked shocked by the casual display of skill.

"I am Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna be king of the pirates!" She smiled as she spoke. Showing off all her teeth while her eyes looked feral. Zoro paled and swallowed. Note to self, Luffy thought. Smiling like Mama is scary to people.

"Captain we can't beat them!"

"They are both too strong!"

"Just fighting Zoro was hard enough, and this chick seems crazy!"

"This is an order," ax growled. "Everyone who just spouted such weakness, pull out your gun and shoot yourselves! I have no use for weak soldiers," He yelled.

Luffy glared at him. Who the hell did he think he was ordering his crew to do such a thing. This man was a failure of a captain in every sense. Luffy rushed forward and charged at the failure. She pulled her arm back to punch him. Noticing her movements the failure attempted to block her fist with his ax. The ax did nothing to block her attack, shattering on impact and not slowing her momentum. The failure gaged on the bile that came up when her fist made contact before flying back.

When Luffy was sure he would not get up again she turned around and walked back to Zoro and Cobi. "Food," she whined. Cobi and Zoro stared at her blankly before Cobi started to cheer.

"What the fuck," Zoro said as he stared. When the situation caught up the marines they began to cheer. Her suspicion was correct. No one liked having the failure for a captain.

Luffy stared at Zoro for a moment before stepping forward and putting her arms around his waist. "What the hell are you -" he started but was absurdly cut off when Luffy grabbed hold of his shirt and flung him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "What the fuck are you doing! Put me down!" Zoro yelled, causing his sword to drop as he flung out his arms to try and force her to drop him.

"No. You tired. Cobi swords." She stated blanky.

"I am not tired enough that I need you to carry me!" Zoro bellowed. Luffy smiled messing - she means getting to know, really, she swears - with Zoro would be fun. Cobi picked up the swords and moved to follow her but the sound of a gun clocking stopped them.

She turned her gaze and saw the purple lying coward holding a gun to Cobi's head. She could tell he was yelling something at her, while the remaining marines were yelling at him. She was done with this. She had reached her limit for dealing with stupid for the day. She wanted to get some food, set sail and take a nice long nap. Luffy sighed and kicked a rock into the air. Before the purple lying coward could understand what was happening she kicked the rock toward the center of his forehead. It hit true and caused him to fall to the ground. She threw a blast of conquers Haki at him - careful to make sure it only hit the purple lying coward - just to make sure he would not get up for a while.

"Food," she whined stomping her feet as she walked towards the town. Cobi pulled himself out of his stupor and followed after. Zoro still complained the whole way to the restaurant.

* * *

Luffy was happy now that she had food in her belly.

"I am stuffed," Zoro cheered. "I was so hungry I could have my bootstraps!"

Cobi laughed along with the little girl Zoro had saved. The girl's mother was kind enough to offer them free food and there was no way Luffy would pass that up.

"Done?" Luffy questioned looking at the plates stacked to the side that Zoro had cleaned. "Lightweight."

Zoro scoffed. "How the hell can you have a bigger appetite than someone who hasn't eat in three weeks." Luffy smiled at him showing her teeth, she took extra care not to let herself look feral this time.

Their meal was interrupted by the door to the restaurant opening. A marine walked in, and from what Luffy could see there were many more outside. "We heard that you were actually pirates, is this true?" The man who seemed to be leading spoke.

"Yep," Luffy confirmed. She had a feeling where this was going. It would not mean much for her, but Cobi... She needed a way to deal with this. She did like him after all.

"We appreciate everything you did to save our town from that tyrant. However, now that we know you are pirates, as marines, we cannot stand by and just watch you go about your business. Therefore, you and your crew will leave this town at once! But out of respect for what you have done, we will refrain from reporting you to headquarters."

The townspeople began to riot behind the marines in protest, but Luffy paid them no mind. If she played this just right she could keep Cobi out of this.

"Thanks for the food lady," Luffy said as she stood up. She inwardly cringed. Luffy thought she would be done with having to form actual sentences today. She did not want to talk anymore, but she would like to help Cobi.

Luffy walked by Cobi without acknowledging him.

"Aren't you part of the crew," the marine asked Cobi. Luffy inwardly sighed. Why can't they ever make things easy for her? Now she was going to have to talk more. "Hold it. Is he with you?"

Luffy turned to look at the marine. "Not really. He was some brat I found that looked useful so I beat up the fishers he was with and had him work for me. I don't really need him now though."

The marine glared at her. "Are you telling me you kidnapped a child and forced him to work for you?"

"Yep. Got a problem with it." She smiled. Cobi stared at her shock. "You could always try to arrest me, but then you would be breaking your word." The man grit his teeth.

"Get out of our town," he hissed stepping so he was between her and Cobi. Well, it looks like she was convincing.

She left the restaurant with Zoro close behind her as they made their way to the docks. "So how many others you got?" Zoro asked.

"Just you."

"What!?"

"You're first."

"What the hell did I just get myself into."

Luffy was right. He would be fun to mess with.


	11. Interlude: Forgotten letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A letter from a thousand years ago lost to the sands of time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodbye canon! Not really, but I am going to write my own thing in regards to the Void era. These interlude chapters will be explaining some of that, you can read them or skip them. 
> 
> I will post them with a normal chapter, so check out the one before this!

Greetings my friend! How was your voyage? I hope you had some fantastic adventures that you will be able to bewilder me with the tales of on our next meeting.

I am sorry that I won't be able to welcome you back in person. The arrangements to begin the investigation into the phenomenon of the manifestation of the soul had been finalized.

I hope that upon my return we will be able to share a drink. Who knows, maybe this time I will have a few stories that will stump even you.

Until then, I will send frequent updates pertaining to the investigation,

With my best regards,

r̵̡̛̛̭̯̼̦͉͖͚͖̳̠̻̟͎͔̭͍̹̥̰͍̪̝̞͉͇̱̮̋̋̂͊͊̀̃̒̏̒̄͛̉̅͗͘͝ͅͅë̸̡̘͈̜͔̠̦̰̘̮͔̩̱̦͑̋̏͊̕͜͝d̵̡̢̮̩͔͎̱̻̥̥͉͇̠͕̹̅͌̓̾̓̋͒͘͝͝a̴̛̭͙͌̅̂̓̆̏͋͒̅̊̿̓͑̕ţ̸̧̧͎̙͍̝̰̠̰͖̲̬̱̟͉̃́̆̊͌͗̐c̴̡̧̤̦̤̯͍̦͚͚͕͍͕͇̣̪͐̎̑̋͆̆̑̆e̸̢͔̠̯͈͖̫̖͔̲̬̯̻̥̞̪̘̬̭̱̫̼̜͔͕͍͇̹̘̹̝̪̍̂͛̈́̈́̾͜ͅd̸̡̨̛̛͇͇̻͍̗̙̲̤̦̉̔̈̐̓͛̆̽̊̈̓̕͘͝


	12. The best doggo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy has a bad day. Meets a dog and proceeds to cry about it.

This had not been her best plan. She could admit that. Grabbing hold of a bird so she could find which way land was, seemed like a good idea at the time. But now she had lost sight of Zoro and she had been shot out of the sky by a cannon. An actual cannon. It had turned into a mess.

While the Zoro problem that it had caused seemed to be solving its self - she could still feel where Zoro was with her Haki and he was rapidly moving closer, so she could just wait for him - the cannon she would have vengeance for. Stealing all the meat from whoever had shot her down should be fair.

Luffy dusted herself off as she stood from the small crater the impact had caused.

"Boss! You came to save me," a girl yelled as she grabbed hold of Luffy's hands.

Whomst the fuck?

"They are all yours now boss," the girl yelled again before running off.

That was strange.

Luffy would think about it later, she wanted food.

"Do you guys know where I can get some food," Luffy asked turning to the men standing behind her.

"Food is the least of your worries," one of them yelled as he moved forward to strike her. Luffy easily dodged and hit the man underneath the chin with the palm of her hand, forcing his jaw to snap closed. She felt mildly bad when she heard his teeth shatter, but her stomach rumbled. These idiots - who apparently believe anything that their enemy that they are chasing says - were now standing in the way of her and food. No mercy.

She slammed her palm into the remaining two's noses as the force not only broke their nose but their front teeth as well. She watched as they crumpled to the ground. Once sure they weren't going to get up again, she continued her search for food.

"You're really strong," that girl's voice called from above. Luffy turned her eyes to the roof where the girl was hiding. The girl jumped down to a balcony below her. "Even though they had swords you beat them barehanded!"

"You set me up. Who are you," Luffy asked blankly.

"I'm a talented thief who steals from pirates!" A possible food thief!? What else of value could she possibly be after!?

Wait.

Gold. Her hunger was clouding her decision-making skills. There had been somewhere she could get something to eat. "The name's Nami! Wanna team up with me?" Right she was still here. Focus. This and then food.

"No." Luffy stated before started to walk away.

"Hold on!" The food thief called after her. "At least think about it before you say no!"

Luffy's stomach rumbled loudly. "Food," she whined.

"Come with me and I'll find you something to eat."

Luffy stopped and grabbed hold of the goddess's hands. "Really!?"

"Y-yeah," the goddess stammered.

* * *

Luffy followed close behind the goddess as she led her to a house? It wasn't a restaurant. The goddess either lived here or they were stealing. Luffy could not care less about which it was.

The goddess searched a few rooms before finding the kitchen and bringing some beard from it. While it was not fresh bread, it was not bad either. Luffy shoved it in her mouth the moment it was within her reach.

"Who lives here," Luffy asked. He words muffled by the bread she was desperately trying to inhale. While Luffy had no qualms about stealing food, she would feel bad if she ate all of the food someone was saving. She was not a monster. She knew the importance of a food stash.

"No one. Everyone has left this town since Captain Buggy showed up."

"So you're just a thief," Luffy said as she continued, with more vigor, to shove food into her mouth.

"How rude! I only steal from people who deserve it! Like pirates!"

"Tomato Tomahto"

"I am going to earn 100 million berries, no matter what!"

"Why?"

The girl blinked in shock a bit at what she had just said. Shit. This girl was sharp. There was not much she could get her to say before she caught on to something going on.

"That's a secret. But with this map of the Grandline, 100 million is a real possibility."

Map? Luffy thought she saw something in this goddess. Only a truly wonderful person would help someone find food, but if she was a navigator. Then she would have to see if this goddess would be someone she wanted on her crew.

"Are you a navigator?"

"The most skilled navigator you will ever meet!" The goddess smiled at her. She was obviously confident in her skills.

As she should be, The Sea praised.

Holy shit. That was no small praise.

"Perfect! You're joining my crew!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, you can be the newest member on my pirate crew!"

The navigator's body tensed. "No," she said firmly. She forcibly relaxed her body before she continued. "So you are a pirate?"

"Yep," Luffy spoke nonchalantly. She had stepped on a landmine without realizing it. While Luffy knew that most people did not like pirates, that reaction was personal. Well, it would take a bit more convincing but she would still be joining her crew.

The navigator stepped away from the table keeping an eye on Luffy as she moved to the window. Luffy did not look at her and continued eating. She needed to be patient now. If she forced the issue too much off the bat, she would only make the navigator hate her.

It did not take long for the navigator to return to the table. "I guess I will consider joining you if you agree to certain conditions."

That was the most obvious lie Luffy had ever heard, but she needed to gain the navigator's trust somehow. She could play along for now. "Sure," Luffy smiled with an overdramatic amount of excitement.

"I want you to come with me to visit Captain Buggy," the navigator paused reach behind her back to grab something. The navigator pulled out a rope and moved fast but Luffy easily followed her movements. Luffy did not react as the navigator tied her up. The rope was not something that would be able to hold her, and besides, Luffy had decided to play along.

"Why am I tied up?" Luffy faked confusion.

"It is just for appearances!" Another lie.

"Sure."

* * *

Luffy followed the navigator to a pub. It was the most well-kept building she had seen in this town. She could sense a large number of people inside. This was going to be a whole thing. The navigator's better not turn out to be someone with great skill and a terrible personality. Luffy had standards. Even if her skill was approved by the Sea, Luffy did not want someone she did not like on her crew.

Luffy followed the navigator to the roof. The crowd was silent as they walked through. The navigator pushed her forward in an attempt to make Luffy fall to the ground but Luffy did not move. Luffy was willing to put up with a lot but kneeling to someone in a situation like this? Luffy would tear off her own legs first.

The navigator did not try again and instead continued with her act. "I have brought you the thief, Captain Buggy." The navigator was laying on the sweet tone a bit thick for Luffy's taste, but maybe that was how it was supposed to go. Luffy would have to make note of how the navigator spoke. It might help Luffy with her own tone problem.

Please do not, the Sky cringed.

"Here is your chart back," the navigator continued with a sweet tone as she approached and held out a rolled-up map.

"I appreciate it. But tell me, why the sudden change in heart?" The big-nosed glared at the navigator as he took the map from her. Luffy tilted her head. She felt something strange coming from him. It felt like the ground, like mud, and bark. As though he had a stone tied around him and yet it seemed to radiate with power. A type she was not familiar with.

"I had another fight with my boss. I'm fed up with all it! So I thought I could see if I could join your crew."

The big nosed's glare harshened. Luffy could hear some of the people around her yell about a devil fruit. So that is what the strange feeling was! She had never met someone who had eaten one before! If she made him angry would he use it? She would have to test that later.

The big-nosed suddenly broke out laughing. "Fed up!? Well, I'll admit you are amusing! I like you! I will allow you to join my crew!"

While the big-nosed continued to laugh Luffy was shuffled toward a cage. A deep frown formed on Luffy's face.

Ten minutes. She would allow ten minutes of this farce before she leveled this island.

She will be worth it, the Sea tried to calm her.

No. Ten minutes. That was all she would be willing to give.

You have become so stubborn. Good, the Sky cheered.

Luffy bit the inside of her cheek as she sat down inside the cage. It was small. She only had enough room to sit and not move around. She did not like this. Regardless of what happened today, she was going to punch that giant red nose that laughing buffoon had.

Luffy sat with a scowl on her face as she counted down in her head as she watched the pirates start to party.

Eight minutes.

Seven minutes.

Six minutes.

The pirates cheered loudly at something she wasn't listening to she did not care.

Five minutes.

They brought out a large cannon and fired it at the town. The explosion was impressive for a canon in the East Blue. If Luffy's timer ran out, she would make it look like a sneeze.

Four minutes.

Luffy heard the future corpse say something about conquering the Grandline. She scoffed loudly at that. "The only one who is going to be heading to the Grandline is me. Then I will become king of the pirates. You won't be doing anything." Breathe. She needed to breathe. She was letting her angry cloud her vision. She really shouldn't let her anger make her choices for her.

Three minutes.

They moved the canon to point at her.

Well, this was the end of this game. She did not want someone on her crew that would partake in taking someone's life for amusement. She would allow them to fire the cannon though. Seeing her come out unharmed from a cannon that they had so much faith in, would be a good opening act before she got serious.

The navigator stared at her. Her hands shaking in what Luffy knew was not only fear but doubt as well. Maybe there was something there after all.

Two minutes.

"Your hands are shaking." Luffy caught the navigator's attention. "This is what happens when you fight with half-assed resolve."

"Resolve? Resolve to do what? Watch someone die like it's nothing!" The navigator's voice shook as she clutched the matchbox in her hand.

"No," Luffy's voice was calm. A delicate shield to her rage. "The resolve to risk your own."

The navigator stared at her in shock. Before she could make a move the matchbox was ripped from her hand. One of the pirates stole the box moved to light the fuse. The navigator's eyes widened and she sprung into action. Before he could light it she pulled out a collapsible staff from where it was hidden on her upper thigh.

With well practice movement the navigator snapped the pieces together and slammed them against the pirates head.

Fine. Luffy would not disregard the navigator entirely. She had tried to save her. Even though she was to slow and the cannon fuse had been lit, she tried. Luffy was still going to destroy the pirates, but she would be careful to make sure the navigator did not get caught in the crossfire.

One minute.

The pirates charged the navigator and their number proved too much for her. She used her staff to knock them off balance before running towards the canon. The navigator rushed forward and wrapped her hands around the fuse. She screamed out in pain as the fuse burned her skin. Nonetheless, she did not let go. Smothering the tiny flame in her hands.

That was all Luffy needed to see. She passed.

The Pirates moved to attack Nami from behind. Their swords raised as they swiftly brought them down towards her back. Instead of flesh, they were met with steel.

Zoro had arrived.

And with that time was up. Luffy tensed her muscles and broke the ropes binding her. She leaned forward and bent the metal bars like paper and stepped out of the caged.

Luffy took a deep breath and taught of things that calmed her. Mama singing. Ace's laugh. Yummy food. The open waves and endless sky.

She needed to be calm.

She would only hurt her crew if she let her anger dictate her actions.

"You good," She heard Zoro asked, concern in his tone.

Luffy let a smile spread across her face. Calm. "Yep." Luffy popped the 'p' far harder than normal. Zoro raised an eyebrow but did not push her. "Zoro this is Nami. Nami this is Zoro." She gestured to each as she spoke. "Nami is joining the crew as our navigator."

A smug laugh came from the big-nosed, drawing attention back to him. "So you're Zoro. If you're here for my head you have quite the struggle before you." The big-nosed said arrogantly.

The tips of her fingers touched the edge of her nose her hands pressed flat together as though she was praying. Luffy sucked in a deep breath through her nose before speaking. "Zoro. Too mad. You deal."

Zoro nodded in confirmation. His eyes scanning for injuries. When he found none he turned to the big-nosed. His glare was dark with promise.

Now that was settled. Luffy fell forward and laid face down on the ground.

She was calm. Very calm.

She tuned out to what they were saying - though not releasing her observation - and focused on her breathing.

From the way the big-nosed moved he had far more battle experience then he was letting on. It was a subtle thing that gave him away. The way held drew his knives spoke volume of his skill with them. Zoro - while strong - would be pushed to his limits. Most fights came down to experience when Haki was not involved. Though that was an entirely different thing. Luffy could sense Haki from the big-nosed. While not strong, it would give him an advantage. Then there was the Devil Fruit.

Luffy would need to calm herself before she could do anything. If she used any conquers or armament right now she would hold very little back. She could cause her crew some serious damage if she did that.

The big-nosed jumped forward and Zoro struck cutting him in half. The taste of mud, and bark thickened in Luffy's mouth. The Devil Fruit had been used. The lack of the smell of iron was a clear tell what had happened.

Luffy sensed when of one of the severed hands - holding a knife - moved to stab Zoro in the back.

Nope.

Luffy moved with real speed and shatter the blade with one hand while clutching the severed hand with the other.

"What the hell," Zoro hissed.

"Not bad little girl," the big-nosed. "But it is no use. I ate the chop-chop fruit and became a chop-chop man! Now I can never be defeated by the sword!"

Luffy mouth pinched in disgust. She did not like being called that.

Luffy continued to force her breathing to a slower pace. calm. "Trying to stab someone in the back is a cowardly move. You big-nosed."

It was silent for a breath before the big-nosed coward starting yelling. "What was that you said about my nose!" He sent his other hand barreling towards her. Luffy caught the knife with her teeth and smiled at the clown.

"I'm gonna kick your ass," Luffy bit down on the blade and broke it.

"You are very arrogant for a little girl. You don't seem to realize how outclassed you are." The big-nosed coward bellowed. If he called her that one more time she might snap.

"Zoro," Luffy called getting his attention. She held his eye for a moment before he smiled.

"Understood." He took just one moment to gauge his surroundings before lunging towards the cannon. Luffy jumped at the same time and kicked the big-nosed coward towards his crew.

"You bitch," he hissed as he turned only to be staring down the barrel of the canon Zoro had moved. "W-wait!"

"Light it," Zoro called to Nami.

Nami hurridly did so and covered her ears.

The cannon fired and Luffy did not wait a single moment longer before she turned on her heel and marched away from the wreckage.

"Where are you going," Zoro called after her.

"Food."

Zoro sighed loudly. "It is always about food with you." He turned to look at Nami. "We are going to have to follow her. When she sets her mind on eating there is not much that can stop her."

Nami stared for a moment. "Food sounds great." She said before following after.

* * *

Luffy was calm. She just needed to eat. She was hangry. That was all. It had nothing to do with being locked in a cage, her crewmate nearly stabbed in the back, or being called little girl.

Nope.

Not at all.

Luffy marched through the vacant town as she did the breathing exercises that her mother taught her.

In. out. In. out. In. out. In. out. Dog. In. out. In. out. Dog. Dog. In. out. Wait. Dog?

There was a small white dog in front of her. This dog was obviously not a stray. That meant people. Where there are people there is almost always food.

 _Where is your human_ , Luffy asked as she leaned forward towards the small.

 _Gone_ , his voice was gravelly, old and so tired.

 _Gone?_ Luffy questioned more softly. _Where did he go?_

* * *

Zoro followed Nami threw the empty town.

"How can your sense of direction be so bad that you got us lost while the following someone!"

"I did not get us lost! Luffy just moves to fast!"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"Wait, I see her up ahead."

"That is pretty far for you. Try not to get lost on the way."

"Fuck you."

"Not even in your dreams."

Zoro growled and marched forward towards Luffy. "Oi, Luffy quit running off."

The sound of a sob made them both freeze.

"L-Luffy?" Nami asked gently as she moved towards the crouching girl. Zoro freezing entirely not knowing what to do. Luffy turned to look at them. Fat tears streaming down her face as she was curled around a small white dog. "What's wrong?"

"Is that a dog?" Zoro asked. He so did not know what to do right now. He had no clue how to handle someone who was crying.

Nami shot him a glare before turning back to Luffy. Seeing a fearsome pirate wrapped around a small dog sobbing their eyes out was something she never thought she'd see. It was too human for a pirate.

"T-his Chouchou," Luffy wheezed out between sobs. "He best good boy,"

"What?" Zoro and Nami said in unision.

"He best good boy. He tryin hard protect this place cause he love his human so much. I must protect him! I will die for this good boy!"

They were really confused now. What did that even mean.

"How do you know about that," a strange-looking man called to them. "You aren't from around here. There is no way you should know about that."

"This best good boy told me," Luffy sobbed as she pat the dog's head.

"Old man!? I am the mayor of this town!" He yelled. "I am shocked Chouchou is letting you hold him like that! He normally doesn't let people get in the way of his duty!"

This only caused Luffy to start bawling harder. "What the hell," Zoro hissed at that the old man as moved towards a battle stance.

"Wait," Nami said smacking the back of Zoro's head. He turned and looked at her in shock. Not having expected to blow. "You can't solve all your problems with your swords." Nami sighed before turning to the mayor. "You seem to know something about what Luffy was babbling about. Would you mind explaining?" She smiled sweetly at the man for good measure.

The mayor stared at the dog smashed in the sobbing girl's arms. He stared for a moment before sighing. "He is guarding the store."

"Guarding it? Oh, I see it's a pet food shop." Nami said as she turned back to look at the buildings sign.

"Yes. The shop's owner was a good friend of mine. When he passed I assumed the responsibility of taking care of Chouchou."

"He died?"

"Yes. Three months ago after fighting his illness for a very long time."

"Don't tell me he has been waiting for his master to come back all this time?"

"That's whatever one says." The mayor sighed deeply and moved to sit on the porch of the shop. "But I don't think that's it. Chouchou is a smart dog. He has probably known for a while that his master isn't coming back."

"Then why does he stay guarding the shop?"

"Because it's his treasure. He is guarding it because his master left him with this shop and that is why he protects it. I have tried to bring him back to my place many times so he won't be out here in the elements, but he won't take so much as a step away."

"That is one loyal mutt," Zoro said as he looked at the dog approvingly.

"That doesn't explain how Luffy knew about it though," Nami pointed out.

She had a point, though Zoro would bite his tongue off before admitting it. Zoro turned to look at the sobbing girl. "Luffy how did- "

A loud roar echoed through the street halting their conversation.

"It's him! Beast Tamer Mohji!" The mayor yelled in a panic as he jumped to his feet. "We gotta run!" He shouted before dashing off.

Just as the mayor run a large lion turned the corner and approached the shop. "Well, here you are." A man on it back said.

"Who are you," Zoro hissed.

"I am Beast Tamer Mohji. A member of the Buggy Pirates. I have come for your heads!"

Zoro glared at him and Nami grabbed her staff. The dog turned to the lion and growled. "I will protecc," Luffy cried nuzzling her against the dog. "Crush big-nosed coward."

The man on the lion paled at the insult to his Captain, not realizing how much danger he was in as he dangerously underestimated the crying girl. "How dare you talk about Captain Buggy like that! Get her Richie!"

Zoro braced for a fight as the lion charged. Luffy stood and jumped at the lion. She ducked under one of its claws as it tried to attack her. She straightened herself and roundhouse kicked the lion in the face. It crashed into a building away from the pet shop.

"R-Richie?" The man screamed.

Luffy turned her gaze at the weird lion man. He paled in terror and fled from her.

Luffy turned to look at Zoro and Nami. "We gotta help best good boy! Big nosed coward is destorying town! He could destroy best good boy's treasure!" Luffy sobbed violently.

"Ok, stop! We will defeat that clown!" Zoro yelled waving his arms frantically. "Just stop fucking crying!"

Luffy snapped her mouth shut and forced herself to be silent. The tears still continued.

"You are really bad at anything that does not involve swords aren't you?" Nami comment.

* * *

  
It did not take them long to return to the pub. Oddly enough the mayor had tagged along. Something about not letting others fight his battles. Luffy hadn't been listening. She just wanted to make sure that the best good boy would be safe and protect his treasure.

Any other day this would be simple. She would go in overpower them with a blast of Haki and be done with it. However, she was too emotional right now. It had been a rough day and her Haki was turbulent with her distress. If she tried to use conquers right now she would do more harm then good.

She had a plan. All she needed to do was make sure nothing went too far off her script.

First, she needed to deal with the Mayor. He was going to get himself killed if he kept trying to fight. Luffy stepped behind him and chopped the back of his neck. She watched him crumble to the ground and step around him to get closer to the pub.

Next, she needed to get the big nosed coward angry enough to fire the cannon.

"BIG NOSE COWARD!" Luffy yelled towards the pub. "GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY NOSE! I WON'T STAND FOR THIS! TAKE AIM AND FIRE THE BUGGY BALL!"

That was easy.

Luffy could hear Zoro and Nami swear but she tuned them out. She needed to focus.

This would be delicate.

Even more so with the state of her Haki.

Luffy took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She took a fighting stance. 

Luffy channeled her Haki to her hands.

The cannon fired.

The buggy ball came shooting towards her.

Luffy stretched her Haki and felt the movement of the ball. Every twist and spin it made. With precision, Luffy reached her right hand forward and gently cup the cannonball in a single hand. She let the Haki from her hands spread around it. Stopping the ball from being disrupted. Luffy let its momentum move her. She pivoted her body so her back was towards the pub. She pulling the cannonball along with her, keeping it in front of her. Once her back was to the pub she directed its movement and flung the cannonball back at the pub.

The blast destroyed their base and made sure she would only have to deal with a fewer of them.

She wiped her hands against her pants and turned to gauge the damage.

"What are you," She heard Nami whisper in awe.

She turned to look at her and smiled with all her teeth. She was too tired to try and mess with her exposition. "I am Monkey D. Luffy and I am going to be King of the Pirates!"

That was her limit. She wanted to be over.

Nami gulped before she shook her head and approached Luffy. "How did you do that," Nami questioned.

Luffy was too tired to explain. She was far past her limits for dealing with anything today. Luffy turned to Zoro and stared at him. His eyes widened slightly and he nodded.

"Don't ignore me!"

"She's not," Zoro turned to Nami. "She's done talking for the day. She'll probably explain later." Luffy nodded and pointed at Zoro.

"Done with talking?" Nami paused as she pondered what that meant. "Are you a selective mute?" Nami questioned more calmly. Luffy pointed at the other girl and nodded. Nami stared at her before nodding and turning back to the destroyed pub. "I will want an explanation later though."

Luffy would give one. Eventually. Ugh. She was so bad at explaining this. Haki was more like a feeling to her than a tangible thing. Something that was just a part of her. Explaining an abstract concept like that to someone who had no reference to understand what she meant would be hard. It would be easier to explain what water tasted like. But she would need to before they entered the New World.

Wait.

Rayleigh was in the Grandline. He was a great teacher. She could probably get him to explain it.

(Rayleigh sneezes as a chill ran down his spine. He needed to be drunk to deal with whatever that was foreboding.)

"How dare you try to do me in," The big-nosed coward arose from the wreckage. Holding two of his singed crewmen in front of himself as shields. He dropped them to the ground without care and glared at the ragtag group in front of him.

Luffy looked down her nose at him. Another failure of a captain. Did no one on the sea understand that a captain was meant to protect their crew? That on a ship you constantly had to put your lives in your crewmates hands? That a crew was not disposable objects! The next captain she met to treated his crew like this - no exceptions - she was going to break their knees. Maybe that would send a message to all the other fools.

"How do you plan to respond to this insult, Captain." Another man stood from the rubble.

"Cabaji! I am so angry I can't even think! I just want them dead!"

"That can easily be done. Allow me to repay the disrespect."

"Fine, but make it a good show!"

The man jumped into the air and landed on a unicycle. Once seated he drew out a sword. "You may call me Acrobat Cabaji! Chief of staff on the Buggy pirates! You will die for your insolence!" He gloated as she charged them.

Luffy did not want to deal with this. She could not even think of anything to call him beyond lame unicycle. She could not even think of how she wanted to handle him. Luffy did not like using excessive force unless someone pissed her off and she just met the dude. She liked giving people the chance to fight back. It gave her a chance to see what they were really made of. But she was so tired and just done. Her brain had turned off. She needed it to think thoughts.

Luckily she did not have to.

Before she could move Zoro drew his swords - his bandana tied around his head - and met swords with the unicycle man. "I'll clash sword with you." This could work. She had yet to really see Zoro in action so this was a perfect opportunity to see his skills on full display.

Luffy nodded and took a step back. She dropped to the ground and sat cross-legged. She placed her elbows on her knees and rested her head on her hands. She could use a moment to breathe before she had to deal with that big-nosed coward.

She did not pay attention to what either said and instead focused on their movements. The unicycle spat fire in Zoro's face in an attempt to cover and attack with his sword. Zoro managed to dodge the slash but the fire had slightly burned Zoro's face. It wasn't serious injury.

The unicycle used his sword to knock up a cloud of dust. He once again used the cover to hide his attack. It was easier for Zoro to dodge that attack. She could tell Zoro was getting annoyed by the unicycles cheap tactics.

Zoro drew his last sword and place it in his mouth. The air around him changed. It hummed with danger. The unicycle unleashed a bunch of dreidels and moved to attack, but Luffy stopped paying attention. She sensed the moment the big-nosed coward moved and reacted just as quick. She caught his hand before he could grab Zoro. At the same time, Zoro lunged at the unicycle and sliced him apart.

He was strong. Stronger then Luffy had originally thought. It seemed that his reputation was not for show. The moment he learned Haki he would have very few who could hope to face him.

Luffy smiled at Zoro and gave him a thumbs up. He scoffed at her. "There was never any doubt who would win." He said as he sheathed his swords.

Now all the was left was to find where Nami had wandered off to.

"You damn bitch!"

Oh. Right. He was a thing.

Luffy braced herself for his attack only to be mildly surprised when the severed top half of his body flew past her. She turned and saw him heading straight for Nami.

Nope.

Luffy covered her leg in Haki and moved toward the bottom half of the big-nosed coward's body. She drew her leg back and kicked in between his legs.

His top half froze and fell to the ground. She heard him mumble something. She drew her leg back and kicked him again. Then once more for good measure. And again because he pissed her off.

She turned to look at Zoro - who for some reason was paler then she had ever seen him - and pointed towards the sea. He nodded in understanding. "Remind me to never piss you off," he grumbled as he started to head for the port.

Luffy turned to look at Nami and pointed the sea. Nami sighed loudly. "If I get to keep sixty percent of all treasure you have yourself a deal."

That worked. Luffy did not really like money. Besides she was a pirate. If she really wanted something she could steal it. Nami seemed to like it though so she could have it.

Luffy nodded in agreement. "That is robbery," Zoro yelled.

"To late. Your Captain agreed," Nami smugly taunted. "Now help me carry this haul or you won't get any!"

Zoro complained loudly, but he still helped.

Finally. They were leaving and she could be done with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I skipped over it in earlier chapters but the reason Luffy does not like being called "little girl" is that Bluejam called her that. Nothing happened to her, he was just creepy and it made her feel gross. It was an entirely new feeling of not belonging to herself. To be viewed as an object. So it really pisses her off to be called that.


	13. A ship and crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy makes some friends and makes good on a promise she made to herself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for violence and bone-breaking, minor character death, and mentions of blood

Nami's skill at navigation was not to be scoffed at. She had managed to get them to an island in far less time then Luffy had thought possible, not to mention the way she skillfully avoided storms.

While the Blue seas were the tamest of the three, Luffy could tell by the way Nami reacted so quickly to the slightest change in pressure or currents in the water, that the unpredictable weather in the Grandline would be less of a problem then Luffy originally thought.

The Island was not large, with only one small town covering most of it. It seemed peaceful.

Luffy stepped out of the boat and dug her bare feet into the sand. She loved the way it felt.

"We should find a place to get you shoes," Nami spoke as she looked at Luffy's feet. "I won't be good to walk around barefoot."

Luffy scrunched her nose and shook her head. She liked not wearing shoes. It let her put Haki into the ground without having to waste more energy going through her shoes. While it was not much energy in the grand scheme, in a fight the tiniest bit could be the difference between winning or losing. This saved time.

Nami sighed at Luffy. She had learned fast that once Luffy had set her mind on something it would be near impossible to change it."Fine, but don't complain to me when you step on something and hurt your feet."

It was starting to look like this Island would be uneventful. The sky was clear and it wasn't annoyingly hot. The town held a nice energy.

Sure, someone was watching them, but she was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, the only reason they were being watched was probably since they had arrived in a ship that had the big-nosed cowards jolly roger on it. The ship, after all, had used to be his.

She would ignore them. She had no interest in picking a fight with civilians. She was not here to -

"Careful," Zoro said lowly as he unsheathed one of his swords. "We are being watched."

Why did he have to be so competent?

She could at least try to make sure that this did not get out of hand. Burning down a village was not on her to-do list right now, maybe one day. She would think about it.

A barrage of small stones flew towards her feet. Luffy easily dodged them.

Once the stones stopped flying, all along the top of the cliff, pirate flags began to pop out of the brushes. Luffy did not pay it much thought, she only sensed four people.

A man jumped out of the bushes and stood proudly at the edge, laughing loudly as he looked down at them. "I am Usopp, leader of the great pirates who reign over this village! You stand before a legend! The most revered pirate who ever lived! I am the great "Captain Usopp,"" he declared. "Surely you know my army of 80 million subordinates won't sit idly by!"

Lie. A strange one at that.

If he was trying to scare them off why not go for a more believable number? 80 million was a number that only the world government could even dream of boasting about. If they included the private armies of the kingdoms that worked for them as well.

But that aside, Luffy could swear she knew this liar from somewhere. His face looked slightly familiar and something about his aura was similar to one she felt before. She could swear she heard his name before.

"You expect us to believe that?" Nami yelled up to him.

Luffy stared at his face with more intensity. She knew him. It would bother her until she figured it out. It was on the tip of her tongue.

It took less than a few words for Nami to scare the kids hiding in the bushes, causing them to run for the hills.

Her skill did not end at navigation it seemed.

Nor was the liar dissuaded by the fact that he now faced them alone. It was obvious he was sacred, but he held his ground.

"Have we met?" Luffy questioned, interpreting the back and forth between Nami and the liar.

He sputtered at her. "No! Why would I know a Buggy pirate!?"

"Not big-nosed cowards crew," Luffy squinted at him even harder. "You just look familiar."

"Of course I do! I am the great captain Usopp!"

Great Captain Usopp?

Captain Usopp?

Usopp?

Usopp.

Usopp!

"I do know you," Luffy yelled in revelation as she pointed at him. "You're Yassop's kid!"

He gaped at her and paused in his movement. "You know my old man?"

"I met the crew he was on when they stayed in my village for a bit!"

"Really!?"

* * *

  
The liar had led them to a restaurant in the village. They sat and ate while Luffy regaled him with stories of some of the more.... entertaining things the Red Hair pirates did in the bar while drunk.

The conversation had taken a turn when Nami had noticed an opening. She had wondered if there was someone who could help them get a ship. The Liar started acting strangely after that. When the large mansion at the top of the hill was mention he suddenly turned defensive and told them to stay away from there before running off.

Which led them to where they were now. Spying on the Liar talking to the young lady of the big mansion.

Luffy's opinion of him raised. She could tell that he was not trying to get something from the young heiress and he weaved his stories to make her laugh. Luffy could sense a deep sadness from the other girl, so this was the Storyteller's attempt to help.

"Hey," Luffy drew their attention to the bottom of the tree. The Storyteller's eye widened in panic and the heiress looked confused. "Wanna see me lick my elbow?"

"What," they said in unison along with Zoro and Nami who stood behind her.

"Watch," Luffy lifted her arm in a futile attempt to lick her elbow. She tried to force her arm to bend and when that did not work she tried to lean forward. Luffy showed a dramatic display of losing her balance and falling onto her face. She laid there a moment before shooting up to her feet. While looking directly at the Storyteller and the heiress, Luffy licked her hand and slapped it on her elbow. "Success."

The heiress laughed loudly and the Storyteller joined in. Luffy could hear Nami snicker, while Zoro bellowed with laughter.

"What is going on here," a man yelled as he approached.

Luffy scrunched her nose as though she had smelt something bad. In a sense she had. Whoever this man was, he reeked of blood.

"Get out," he demanded. "I will have you know this is criminal trespassing." He sneered at them as though they were something disgusting he stepped in while he pushed up his glasses with the bottom of his palm. Carefully making sure his fingers weren't pointed towards, or near his face.

"Actually, Klahadore these people are -" The heiress started before she was rudely cut off.

"Not now Kaya," The weird glasses shut her down. "You can tell me all about this riffraff after they have let."

Luffy did not like him. The heiress seemed nice and did not deserve to be talked to like that. Luffy would have brushed it off if she thought the weird glasses was trying to protect her, but she sensed no care in his words.

"Who are you," Luffy spoke a slight bit on conquers in her voice to make sure she pulled the attention towards herself.

"I am Klahadore, the butler to this estate. Now leave," he sneered.

"You're the butler?"

"Yes, now leave."

"No."

"Excuse you?"

"If you are just the butler you have no say in who is on the property. The young lady here," Luffy turned and gestured to the heiress. "She decides who is allowed here."

"You ill-mannered trash! I am only doing what is in miss Kaya's best interest!"

"No, you are not."

He sneered at her. "How dare you-"

"If a person suffers a loss, which I am guessing is why she is in the condition she is in, isolating them will only increase their depression."

He scoffed. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Maybe. But the World Government's Health and Research does. Read article 436. It details the effects grief has on a person and how to deal with it. Unless, you claim to know more about medicine then the World Government."

His face turned red and he bared his teeth at them. "If you do not leave I will be forced to call the authorities."

Luffy turned to the heiress and wrapped her Haki around her filling the other girl with a sense of calmness and strength. "Do you want us to leave," Luffy asked.

"Of course she -"

Luffy glared at him from the corner of her eye. "I was not talking to you."

He pursed his lips in rage and glared back at her. The threat not being missed.

The heiress was silent for a moment before she spoke. "I would like them to stay."

"Miss Kaya -"

Then we stay."

"You will not! I will call the authorities!"

"Go ahead. I know the law," Luffy laughed softly. "The owner of his house and land has stated that she will allow us here. You are just a butler. You work for her. Not the other way around. If she wants us here then we will stay."

He said nothing and bared his teeth. "Fine," he ground out before turning and marching away.

"I am sorry about him," the heiress said softly. "He only does it because he cares."

Luffy scrunched her nose and climbed the tree to get to the window leged. She took a seat on one side while the heiress leaned out the other. "I don't like him. He smells."

The Storyteller laughed and the heiress giggled. "Smells?" She chuckled out.

"Like iron." That got her funny looks from the heiress and the Storyteller.

"Iron," Zoro asked one hand on the hilt of a sword. Nami stared at Luffy, her body tensed.

"Bad type," Luffy nodded.

The heiress laughed a bit more forced. While not understanding what they were talking about she could read the room.

Luffy forced her body to relax and spread out some calming Haki. "Have you ever had a slumber party?" Luffy questioned the heiress. The heiress blinked a few times and then shook her head. "Do you want to? I am great at braiding hair."

The heiress' eyes lit up. "Really!? I have always wanted to have one, but never had the chance," the heiress exclaimed.

Luffy nodded and turned to Nami. "Wanna join?"

Nami looked back and forth between Luffy and the heiress before smiling. "Sure," she spoke cheerily.

Nami caught on quick.

Luffy jumped into the heiress room and leaned over the window ledge to reach for Nami. "Zoro why don't you and the Storyteller have a guys night," Luffy spoke as she pulled Nami up.

The Storyteller laughed and looked at her wearily. "Why not! It might be fun," He laughed as he jumped down the tree.

Luffy shot Zoro a look and he nodded before walking off with the Storyteller.

* * *

  
"You weren't joking when you said you were good with braids," Nami laughed as she and the heiress admired their halo braid and waterfall braid respectively.

"Never doubt my skills," Luffy deadpanned. "And besides, I am a sailor. If I did not have basic knot tieing skills I would be doomed.

The heiress and Nami laughed.

"You should let us do yours," The heiress suggested.

Luffy nodded and took off her straw hat and pulled out the messy braid that had been stuffed into it. She kept the hat in her lap as she undid the braid.

"Your hair is so long," the heiress cheered as she ran her fingers through the waist long messy. "It is so curly too!"

Luffy had to admit she was having fun.

* * *

  
It was late into the night when Luffy woke. Something was wrong,

She had been forced to turn off her observation so she could sleep, but that was not her only defense. She could smell iron in the air. It was undoubtedly blood. Fresh blood.

Luffy turned to where Nami and the heiress were sleeping on the large bed and nudged them both.

"What are you -" Nami started but was cut off when Luffy's hand covered her mouth. She did the same to Kaya.

"Something is wrong," Luffy whispered.

Nami's body tensed and the heiress' eyes widened. "What do you mean," The heiress questioned softly.

Luffy held her finger to lips, the other two girls nodded. Luffy walked on the balls of her feet towards to door, careful not to make any noise.

While she doubted that there was anyone in the Blue seas that had enough Haki and control to mask their presence from her, Luffy would not take any chances. Luffy had few principals that she would follow and the man who sleeps with a machete is a fool every night but one, was one she would not forgo.

Luffy would approach with caution.

The heiress and Nami stayed closed behind her. Nami tightly clenching her staff. They followed her to a sitting room. Luffy slowly pushed open the door. She peered around as an extra precaution to make sure no one was in there before slipping inside.

This was going to be a problem.

Luffy heard the heiress gasp as she entered the room. "Merry," the heiress screamed. The heiress rushed to the man on the floor and fell to her knees next to him.

"M-iss Kaya," the fallen man wheezed out. "Thank goodness you're still alive. I was worried." The fallen man tried to stand but his limbs gave out underneath him. He had lost far to much blood.

"Who did this to you," the heiress demanded through tears.

The fallen man whimpered as he tried to breathe, only for wet coughs to come instead. "Klahadore," He forced himself to speak. "He attacked me. He was a pirate all along."

The heiress covered her mouth in shock. "How can that be?"

"He got close to you so he could get your fortune," the fallen man spoke between wet coughs.

"He can't be!" The heiress insisted with rage in her voice. "No! You're lying!"

"I am telling you the truth," the fallen man sobbed. "We were all fooled! I trusted him too!" He spat up far more blood than could be normal.

"Help! Merry needs help," the heiress screamed in hope to get any of the other staff members attention.

"It's no use, Miss," his voice was becoming fainter. "The entire staff has been on leave since yesterday."

The heiress turned to Nami and Luffy. "Please help him," she pleaded.

"I cannot. I have only basic first-aid knowledge. With his wounds, he needs a doctor." Luffy spoke calmly.

"I don't know anything about treating wounds like this," Nami said her voice cracking.

Despair washed over the heiress' features. "Don't let yourself get flustered, Miss." The fallen man spoke to clearly. "The attack has yet to begin. Be calm. Think clearly about what it is that you need to do. If Klahadore is the thief we think he is and his goal is your fortune, then, by all means, let him have it. None of this is worth protecting with your life." It wouldn't be long now. "It's a cruel truth, but you are the only one who can stop Klahdore now. Be strong Miss Kaya."

The heiress screamed as she felt the last breath leave the fallen man. Luffy wished she could give the heiress more time to mourn then half a minute, but time was of the essence now. If a murderous pirate was running around - and judging from some of the things she was sensing with her observation, he was not alone - they needed to leave. They would be sitting ducks here.

Luffy walked forward and placed a hand on the crying girl's shoulder. "We need to go," Luffy spoke gently as she covered the heiress with calming Haki. The heiress took a deep breath and stood. There was a surprising amount of fire behind the soft-spoken girl's eyes.

They moved to the window and Luffy jumped out first before helping the other two out.

"What should we do," Nami asked.

"Find Zoro and the Storyteller," Luffy paused as she helped the heiress and Nami over the large garden wall. "Confirm a suspicion about what is going on."

* * *

  
It did not take them long to find to boys. They had decided to camp in the forest. The light from their campfire made them easy to spot. Surprisingly three little kids were with them. The group was laughing loudly at whatever story the Storyteller was weaving.

"Zoro," Luffy called to him.

He turned to look at her and admittedly jumped up. "What happened," he growled.

"Kaya! Are you all right?" The Storyteller yelled noticing the blood on her dress.

She gripped her dress tightly. "Merry is dead."

"What," the Storyteller and the children yelled in panic.

"Pirates are trying to kill her," Luffy pointed to the heiress. "There is a large number to the north."

"What," the group exclaimed.

"We have two options here. Get off the island and don't look back or stay and fight." Luffy said calmly.

"We can't just leave! This is my home!" The Storyteller yelled.

"I don't want to run away," the heiress spoke softly.

"We can't abandon these people," Nami hissed.

"I'm not going to run from a fight," Zoro declared.

"Then let's go crush these pirates." Luffy smiled flashing her teeth.

* * *

  
They had prepared for the battle. The Storyteller, heiress, and Zoro had gone to gather supplies and whatever weapons they would need. Luffy had used her Haki to get the kids to sleep, before hiding them in the forest along with Nami's treasure.

The cove had only one way up and the pirates had not yet docked. It gave them the advantage.

Their preparation turned out to be fruitful. When the pirates attempted to run up the path they slipped in the oil covering the ground and began to fall all over and into the caltrops.

The Storyteller used his slingshot to shoot anyone who managed to get close to the end of the oil and caltrop hell. Luffy was certain it would have been a better plan if they had ignited the oil, but apparently burning people alive was frowned upon. So she was stuck throwing small rocks at the pirates. With all of them throwing the rocks, the pirates made no headway.

A strange-looking man with a metal ring on a string yelled out in frustration. The pirates gathered around him. He swung the ring back and forth and while repeating the word stronger.

A hypnotist then.

The pirates yelled out a battle cry before they charged up the path again. This time the traps did little to stop them.

They should have just lit them on fire.

The Storyteller fought hard. Each time he was knocked down he stood back up. His declaration that the only way he would let these pirates harm the village was over his dead body was not empty. Luffy liked him.

Surprisingly the heiress was fighting too. While her movements were slow and the strength she had did little to detur the pirates and she was the target of the attacks, she did not run. Even though the heiress was terrified she stood her ground. Luffy liked her.

Luffy was careful while fighting to make sure that neither got hurt. Kicking rocks and throwing unconscious pirates like ragdolls at anyone who could hurt either of them.

They were making great progress. While she and Zoro were handling the brunt of the pirates, none of them were a major threat. They could be done before lunch and spend the rest of the day trying to find a ship big enough to hold at least four people.

"Come forth, Meowban brothers!" The hypnotist yelled.

Two men jumped off the ship. "Yes, captain? Did you call for us?" the shorter of the two spoke.

"Well did you?" The larger asked.

"Siam," the shorter spoke putting his hands up like a cute gesture for cat paws.

"And Butchie," the larger mimic the gesture.

"Together, we are the Meowban brothers," they spoke in unison.

Luffy had done many things. She could admit that she was not always the kindest nor did she always do the right thing. But she knew she had not done anything that had earned her being forced to see two grown acting like cats. 

While she normally would not care - to each their own - she did not need to know about these peoples fetishes. And now she did, because she, being her paranoid self, had gazed into the core of two new fighters that appeared. She did not account for them having nearly zero defense for mental attacks and she did not reel her Haki in fast enough she saw way more than she ever needed to.

It did not help that Luffy could hear the Sea bellowing with laughter. She would not suffer alone. Luffy willed the images to the Sea. The sea only laughed harder.

I have been around a long time child! That is the tamest thing I have seen!

Well, that explained why the Sea was always trying to torment people. If Luffy had been forced to see all the things people did for thousands of years, she would be a bit bitter about it too.

The shorter one attacked Zoro while Luffy was lost in her existential crisis. Zoro blocked the attack but the shorter one used to the opportunity of being close to stealing to of Zoro's swords. The shorter one tossed them down the path.

Zoro rushed forward and sliced him and ran for his swords. The shorter one jumped onto his back and grabbed Zoro's wrist. Luffy blocked the cat pun from her mind. The shorter one pulled Zoro's arms behind him, forcing Zoro to fall to the ground.

"Buchie, your up!" the shorter one yelled.

"Got it," the larger one replied as he jumped into high the air. He raised his foot as he jumped and moved to crush Zoro's head. Zoro twisted himself and got out the grip and dodged the attack.

"Stay out of this," Zoro demanded to the others, mostly directed at Luffy. Luffy just nodded. She had no complaints there. After what she had seen, if she touched one of them, her hands would never be clean again.

The two cat brothers brought a barrage of attacks towards Zoro. Even with just a single sword, Zoro fended off their attacks.

Luffy turned away from the fight and stepped closer to the Heiress. This was going to be rough.

The hypnotist yelled out in alarm when he saw another man appear from the part of the path that connected to the village. The cat brothers froze in their attacks when they saw him.

"The night has long since passed. So why is it that you seem to have made no progress on the plan," He demanded. "What the hell is going on!" He screamed at the pirates. "To think that these brats have held you back," he sneered. He cast only a glance at the Heiress before turning back to the pirates. "The target is right here, so why is she still breathing!"

The Heiress's hands clenched her dress as her body shook with rage. Luffy covered her with calming Haki. There was no need for this to be worse than it already was.

"What have you got to say for yourself, Jango!" The traitor yelled at the hypnotists.

The hypnotist tried to stumble out an explanation while the traitor yelled at him. Seeing an opening Nami carefully moved towards Zoro's swords. While keeping calming Haki on the heiress, Luffy split her attention and cover Nami with her Haki and willed the girl to go unnoticed.

Whatever the traitor said seemed to anger the cat brothers. Luffy did not have to luxury to listen to them. Splitting her Haki was challenging and took a lot of focus and control. She was going to be so tired later.

The two cat brothers rushed towards the traitor to attack him. The traitor moved fast, slipping on a pair of gloves with swords for fingers before moving behind the cat brothers. The traitor flung his arms around the cat brother's shoulder and held the blades to their necks.

Nami moved faster once she had the swords. She nudged Zoro and he silently took them. Giving her a slight nod in thanks. Once Nami had made in back to the heiress and the Storyteller, Luffy let her Haki fade off Nami and split her attention between the Heiress and the traitor.

"I will give you five minutes to clean this up," the traitor hissed before stepping away.

The cat brother thanked him and rushed towards Zoro. To focused on their fear to notice that he had all of his swords. It was barely a fight. Zoro brought them down with ease now that he could fight with all his strength.

The hypnotist moved quickly and made the larger one stand again.

"Stop this right now! Klahadore," the heiress yelled as she drew a pistol and pointed it at him. "You won't win! I won't let you!"

"You're all grown up now," the traitor spoke softly, almost proudly. "So much has happened in the last three years. Miss Kaya, don't you remember the things we went through? We spent so much time together. Even before your dear sweet parents passed away. You were more than my master, you were my best friend. So much time, so many memories. Together we suffered and together we rejoiced. Like family," he smiled gently at her.

Luffy did not like where this was going one bit. But if she stopped him now Kaya would always wonder and it would eat her alive. Luffy would break him for this.

"Klahadore," Kaya said softly as tears filled her eyes.

"I took you on shopping trips to the city. I looked after you so diligently when you were ill. And we used to talk for hours and hours. Kaya listen to me, I was devoted to you for so long," he made a move to step forward but Luffy kept herself between the two not letting him advance. "So very long." His tone turned harsher. "I endured it. I quietly suffered so that today I could end your life and take everything that I deserve!"

"I, who was once the feared and respected Captain Kuro had to bow and humble myself to a snot-nosed little girl! It went against every fiber of my being! Can you understand the depths of these daily insults? Can you understand the rage created by those transgressions against my pride!?" The traitor seethed.

The Storyteller moved fast and shot the traitor in the face with a metal ball from his slingshot. "How dare you! Kaya has been nothing but kind to you! I won't stand here and let you talk to her like that!"

The traitor wiped the blood from his mouth. "Do you really think you can beat me," he asked almost mockingly.

"No," Usopp spat. "But I don't care if I die. I won't let you touch my friend!"

The traitor moved to attack Usopp, but the Heiress attacked first. She pulled the trigger before he could. The traitor had never expected that the Heiress would have the resolve to shoot him. He stared at the bullet wound in his arm in shock. "Nor will I," Kaya fiercely declared.

The traitor glared at Kaya with animosity. "Jango, handle these interlopers, I will take care of miss Kaya. Once I have broken her you can have her write her butler into her will, then kill her."

The hypnotist quickly agreed. He rushed to the fallen larger one and hypnotized him to stand again. The fight with the larger one was over just as quick as the first time. The strength increased doing nothing for his lack of skill. He was outclassed

"Stay back," Luffy ordered her crew as she glared at the soon to be a corpse.

There was hesitation in Usopp's and Kaya's eyes but the listened. Luffy felt a sense of pride. Without even realizing it those too were fully part of her crew now.

"You foolish little girl, do you really think you can beat me?" The soon to be a corpse taunted.

Luffy was going to break his soul before she killed him now. Luffy lunged forward with real speed and kicked him in the nose with her heel. He stumbles back in shock, blood gushing from his broken nose.

Luffy smiled at him and used the sweet tone that she learned from Nami. "Pick a god and pray."

He sneered at Luffy. "Don't think that because you got a lucky shot that you have won," the soon to be a corpse yelled as he moved forward to attack.

Luffy did not move to dodge. She used one hand to shatter the blades on one of his gloves and the other to slam her fist into his chest and sending him flying again.

The pirates began to shout encouragement to their captain. "Shut your mouths, all of you!" the soon to be a corpse ordered. "Soon enough I will deal with you in the only appropriate manner. Extermination!"

"What," stuttered the hypnotist. "but the plan -"

"Will no longer be any of your concern." The traitor mocked. "When all of you are dead the village will know who to blame for this atrocity. I never intended to let any of you mongrels leave this village alive. No one who knows my true identity can be allowed to live to tell about it."

Luffy screamed internally. Not only was he letting his anger dictate his actions to the point where he was destroying his plan - he still needed the hypnotist to _hypnotize_ Kaya - he was going to murder his crew. Not only was the soon to be a corpse stupid, but he was also another failure.

She was going to break his knees.

The soon to be a corpse took a strange stance. His shoulders were loose and he swung his arms back and forth in front of him. Luffy could hear the shouts of terror coming from the pirates. This apparently made him so fast that he could not control it and lashed out at everything.

This worked more in her favor. She would be able to completely shatter the soon to be corpses soul by defeating his trump carp.

He seemingly disappeared but Luffy was quicker. She waited for the soon to be a corpse to cut down one of is own before she attacked. If by some miracle he managed to survive this his former crew would make sure he never bother anyone again. Luffy moved in front of him. Kicking his knee with her heel, forcing it to invert. He went down screaming.

"It is sad that you have not yet realized that just how outmatched you are. There was never a chance for you to win." Luffy spoke slowly like she was trying to explain something to a child./p>

"This can't be. There is no way I would lose to some bitch -"

"Whine to someone who cares," she said indifferently before kicking his head and forcing his neck into an impossible angle.

It was quiet while everyone processed what had happened.

"Two things are going to happen here," Her voice had taken a callous edge as she demanded they listen. "You are going to give us all your treasure and then get off this island and pray that we never meet again." Luffy waited for a moment and when no one moved her glared at them " **Go**."

The scrambled to follow her orders.

Once the money was safely in Nami's rejoicing hands, Luffy turned to her crew.

"Foooood," she wailed.

"of course," Zoro sighed.

* * *

  
"How can she eat that much," Usopp whisper in awe as he watched Luffy wolfed down her twenty-seventh plate of food.

"She is probably only halfway done," Nami commented.

"Impressive!" Kaya cheered. Luffy gave Kaya a thumbs up. Kaya stared for a moment before doing the same.

"mrfph augnh jufhs," Luffy tried to speak with food in her mouth causing it to come out as a garbled mess.

"Chew your food first," Nami sighed when she noticed Luffy was not slowing done.

"She said we need to find a ship," Zoro sighed.

"You can understand her," Usopp said in astonishment.

"Of course not! But I do have a general idea of what she wants to do," Zoro denied.

"I have one I could give you," Kaya said. "It was Merry's, but after all you have done I think he would want you to have it."

"Really!? thank you," Nami exclaimed hugging the other girl.

Luffy stopped eating and chugged a glass of water. She took a deep breath then turned to Usopp and Kaya. "How long will it take you both to get everything you need to set sail?"

"What?" They both questioned.

"Since you are both joining my crew I need to know when you will be ready to leave by."

"What," they repeated dumbfoundedly.

"You are both joining my crew. Unless you want to stay on this island forever."

"No," they both denied only to look at the other in shock.

"I want to be a brave man of the sea like my father! I want to see the world," Usopp spoke with ambition.

"Everything that happened with Klaha- Kuro, showed me how sheltered I am. I want to see more of the world. I also want to learn to be a doctor. I can't help but wonder what I could have done for Merry if I had any medical training."

Luffy nodded and turned to Kaya. "We will get a fully trained doctor on the crew at some point, would that bother you?"

"No," Kaya vehemently denied. "If anything I hope I can learn from them!"

"Good. Because I plan to have a large crew, large enough that we could fight the whole world if we needed to. So having more than one doctor on the ship will be a must."

"A large crew big enough to fight the world? Are you planning on to conquer the world," Usopp joked.

Luffy smiled at him showing all her teeth. "I am going to be King of the Pirates."


	14. Interlude: A story to hear in person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Check out the chapter before this one.

Hello, my friend! It has been a few months since I have begun my investigation and so I figured it was time I sent in my first report.

We have managed only to confirm the existence of three types of manifestation of the soul. These all align with the types that all the members of the r̷̢̪̦̖͛͋̈́̍͘e̵̢͈̱̠̦̝͌̈́̈́͋͝d̴͉̞̾͑̃̎̏ä̶̮͍͕̜̦́͐͜c̷̬̩̰̼̻̼͂t̴̯̹̖̝͓̂̈͝e̷͙̪̳͌̑̂̂̓̅d̷̡̪͓̖̅ have.

While we have met people who can manifest a great deal if power, enough to affect the world around them, we have not been able to find anyone who can manifest the soul in the same way you can. Though considering how early it is in the investigation, I will not discount the possibility.

In other news, we have decided to stop referring to the manifestation of the soul, as, well, that. It is quite a mouthful and with how many research papers we have been writing, the length of it is quite tedious to write repeatedly.

We have taken to calling it Hakey, due to a rather hilarious and embarrassing event regarding r̷̢̪̦̖͛͋̈́̍͘e̵̢͈̱̠̦̝͌̈́̈́͋͝d̴͉̞̾͑̃̎̏ä̶̮͍͕̜̦́͐͜c̷̬̩̰̼̻̼͂t̴̯̹̖̝͓̂̈͝e̷͙̪̳͌̑̂̂̓̅d̷̡̪͓̖̅ a hacky sack and a set of keys.

I doubt you would believe the story true without seeing the scar I now have upon my forearm from it. I shall tell you the full story upon our return.

With best regards,

r̵̡̛̛̭̯̼̦͉͖͚͖̳̠̻̟͎͔̭͍̹̥̰͍̪̝̞͉͇̱̮̋̋̂͊͊̀̃̒̏̒̄͛̉̅͗͘͝ͅͅë̸̡̘͈̜͔̠̦̰̘̮͔̩̱̦͑̋̏͊̕͜͝d̵̡̢̮̩͔͎̱̻̥̥͉͇̠͕̹̅͌̓̾̓̋͒͘͝͝a̴̛̭͙͌̅̂̓̆̏͋͒̅̊̿̓͑̕ţ̸̧̧͎̙͍̝̰̠̰͖̲̬̱̟͉̃́̆̊͌͗̐c̴̡̧̤̦̤̯͍̦͚͚͕͍͕͇̣̪͐̎̑̋͆̆̑̆e̸̢͔̠̯͈͖̫̖͔̲̬̯̻̥̞̪̘̬̭̱̫̼̜͔͕͍͇̹̘̹̝̪̍̂͛̈́̈́̾͜ͅd̸̡̨̛̛͇͇̻͍̗̙̲̤̦̉̔̈̐̓͛̆̽̊̈̓̕͘͝

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr](https://gentianbalboa.tumblr.com/)


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